The Museum of the Department of Anthropology can be traced back to the establishment of the Institute of Ethnology at the Taihoku Imperial University in 1928. The collections consist of cultural artifacts of Taiwan Indigenous People collected mainly from the 1920’s to the early 1960’s and prehistoric artifacts excavated from archaeological sites in Taiwan.
Over 5,000 ethnological artifacts preserved here, the very first collection proceeded in 1895, when Ino Kanori – the pioneer in the study of indigenous people – came to Taiwan to collect ethnographic artifacts. Ino’s collections include Atayal ritual object for headhunting, garment of shell beads, as well as Pingpu carvings and ornaments that are rarely seen today. Since the Institute of Ethnology of Taihoku Imperial University had set up in 1928, Utsurikawa Nenozo and Miyamoto Nobuto, in order to promote ethnological research, collected systematically all kinds of material data of every Taiwan indigenous group, including clothing, woodcarving, ceramics, and other daily utensils and ceremonial objects.
On the other hand, archaeological collections are increasingly abundant due to frequent archaeological fieldworks in the department, which makes them over more than 200,000 pieces in total. The very first archaeological excavation was conducted in the Yuan-shan site, which is located on the west of the Taipei Children’s Recreational Center; the project itself is the first academic excavation ever carried out in Taiwan. Thereafter, various sites have been discovered and excavated in large-scale. They include sites dating from the Chang-pin Culture of Paleolithic period, the Ken-ting, Yuan-shan, Ta-pen-keng, Ta-ma-ling, and Pei-nan Cultures of Neolithic period, to the Shih-san-hang culture of the Metal period.
The main theme of the Ethnological Exhibition Room located on the first floor features the “Material Cultures of Taiwan Indigenous People”. The artifacts on display are arranged according to ethnic groups, and are accompanied by texts and illustrations. In addition, there are also special displays on “Taiwan Indigenous Ceramics” and “Plant Use on the Pacific Islands”.
Adopting “Prehistoric Cultures in Taiwan” as the theme, the Archaeological Exhibition Room located on the second floor displays the developmental stages of prehistory in Taiwan through various archaeological specimens. Special topics on “the Megalithic and Structures of the Chi-lin Culture”, “Grave Types in Taiwan’s Prehistoric Period”, and “the Exhibition of Ethnoarchaeology and Experimental Archaeology Research Accomplishments” can also be found in the room.
This museum of anthropology is strongly focused on firsthand field data and therefore stands as a highly valuable small-scale academic display. It is hoped that visitors will take time to look at exhibitions and think over the cultural diversities in Taiwan.
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