Preliminary Results of Pottery Use and Culinary Practices at Heping Island, Northern Taiwan

Li-Ying Wang* and Ellen Hsieh

Fort San Salvador in northern Taiwan was built by the Spanish in the early seventeenth century as a base for commercial colonization. Recent archaeological investigations at the fort site have revealed not only evidence of colonial activities, but also abundant prehistoric artifacts dating from the Neolithic period through the Iron Age, left by early Indigenous groups. To examine whether local culinary practices were primarily shaped by environment or varied across different occupation periods, we conducted a pilot study using residue analysis on pottery samples. We selected nine potsherds from different time periods for lipid analysis, with a few faunal remains from the site as reference samples for comparison. Our preliminary results show that the lipid signals of most pottery samples are higher than background levels, confirming that these vessels were indeed used for cooking. To further distinguish the origins of common saturated fatty acids, compound-specific isotope analysis was conducted. The results show that the Neolithic pottery samples exhibit enriched carbon isotopic values, which may reflect the processing of marine resources or pig-derived products. In addition, pottery vessels from Iron Age burials display isotopic values consistent with those from ruminant dairy fats, suggesting the possible use of animal milk. Whether this reflects a special funerary practice or broader dietary habits requires further investigation. Based on these preliminary results, the Heping Island site appears to reflect a dietary strategy adapted to the local environment, with a primary reliance on marine resources. Future research will increase the sample size to conduct more systematic comparisons.