Bioarchaeology of Early Neolithic Skeletons from the Nankuanli East Site , Southwestern Taiwan

In this study, we examine the health and way of life of some of Taiwan’s earliest Neolithic peoples through studies of skeletons from the Nankuanli East (NKLE) site. The NKLE site is one of three oldest sites (ca. 4500-5000 BP) identified during salvage excavations in 2002-2003 in the Tainan Science Park (TSP) in Shanhua District, Tainan City, in southwestern Taiwan. Approximately 82 extended and supine burials and extensive archaeological materials including pottery, ornaments, shell-bracelet funerary objects and the remains of domesticated and wild animals were recovered from this site. The main subsistence base of these early Neolithic peoples included extensive marine exploitation, hunting, and collecting of wild plant resources as well as early farming involving the cultivation of small grains, root and fruit crops. The presence of foxtail millet has also been identified for this site. Twenty-three (15 male and 8 female) of the most complete and well-preserved burials from this site are used in this study. In addition to documenting two forms of dental modification, betel staining and tooth ablation, we examine the oral/dental and physiological health of these early inhabitants of Taiwan using several indicators including: adult stature, cribra orbitalia (CO), linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH), and dental pathology (dental caries, antemortem tooth loss (AMTL), alveolar defects, dental calculus, alveolar resorption, and dental attrition). Comparisons are made between males and females, with Iron Age skeletons from the Shisanhang (SSH) site in northwestern Taiwan, and with skeletal series outside of Taiwan. More than two-thirds of the teeth from the NKLE skeletons exhibit staining that is likely attributed to chewing of Areca nut. The frequency of betel-stained teeth is significantly greater in males than in females. With few exceptions, the most common pattern of tooth ablation in the NKLE skeletons is the bilateral removal of the maxillary lateral incisors and canines, a pattern that has been recorded among some Indigenous groups in Taiwan and in other Neolithic skeletons from Taiwan. This pattern is rarely observed outside Taiwan. No tooth ablation and very little betel staining are observed in the Iron Age skeletons from the Shisanhang site. Overall, very few differences are observed in the health of males and females from the NKLE site and between this early Neolithic site and the Iron Age site of Shisanhang. The estimated average stature for NKLE males is 160.9 cm and 155.2 cm for females. Regional comparisons of health indicators suggest that the earliest Neolithic inhabitants of Taiwan may have experienced more childhood physiological stress for at least one indicator (LEH) than that observed in other series. However, the frequency of another indicator of childhood health in the NKLE skeletons, CO, was significantly lower when compared to other skeletal series outside Taiwan. Overall, the frequencies of