Patterns of health in Early Neolithic and Iron Age Taiwan

Abstract

This study examines the health and lifestyle of some of Taiwan’s earliest Neolithic inhabitants using skeletons from the Nankuanli East site (c. 5000–4200 BP) from the Tainan Science Park in southwestern Taiwan. Two indicators of health, cribra orbitalia and adult stature, and evidence of dental staining are reported for the first time. Comparisons between males and females, and between the early Neolithic Taiwan, Iron Age Taiwan (Shihsanhang site), and with skeletal series from surrounding regions of East and Southeast Asia are made. The estimated average stature, using non-ethnic formulae, is 160.1 cm for males and 154.7 cm for females from the Nankuanli East site, statures that are similar to those of indigenous Taiwanese and other prehistoric inhabitants from surrounding regions. Twenty-five percent of the adult individuals from Nankuanli East exhibit cribra orbitalia, a childhood indicator of health that is not significantly different between males and females. Approximately 75% of male and 52% of female teeth exhibit some type of staining, a difference that is statistically significant. Although taphonomic processes, such as the mineral content of the soil, may account for the observed dental staining, the dental profile suggests that the staining may be due to chewing betel (areca) nut. Comparisons with Iron Age skeletons from the Shihsanhang site, once again, do not support the prediction of a decline in health during the transition from early Neolithic to Iron Age Taiwan. Overall, the similarities in health between the early Neolithic and later Iron Age inhabitants of Taiwan indicate similar subsistence economies based on marine and terrestrial resources. Further studies of the skeletons from the Nankuanli East site and other sites in the Tainan Science Park will improve our understanding of the health and lifestyle of Taiwan prehistoric inhabitants.