Taiwan in Time: Resting in stonePrehistoric slate coffins found in countless archaeological sites across Taiwan were often tailor-made to fit the size of the deceased, including miniature ones for miscarried fetusesBy Han Cheung / Staff reporterSept. 28 to Oct . Nenozo Utsurikawa, front row in kimono, former head of Taihoku Imperial University’s Institute of Ethnology, was the first anthropologist to discover slate coffins in Taiwan in 1930. The best-known mass stone coffin site is the Beinan site (卑南遺址) in Taitung County, which was revealed in 1980 during a railroad rerouting project. Photo: Huang Ming-tang, Taipei TimesLong before the stone coffins were unearthed at the Beinan site, the location was already known to Japanese scholars, who had examined two large stone pillars in 1896. The stone coffins found at this site were all positioned along a north-south axis, which was also how the inhabitants arranged their dwellings.

Source: Taipei Times September 26, 2020 15:56 UTC