(ORDO NEWS) — An ancient Taiwanese legend about “short dark-skinned” people who lived in remote mountains and suddenly disappeared has suddenly been confirmed.
Scientists have discovered in one of the caves the remains of a woman who lived 6,000 years ago. She did not look like a representative of an indigenous tribe at all, according to World Archeology.
Indigenous tribes are known to have settled Taiwan approximately 4,800 years ago.
Their oral tradition preserved stories of undersized hunter-gatherers who were already living on the island at the time of their arrival. They are known as “negrito”.
There are 16 Austronesian groups in Taiwan, and all but one have legends about the disappeared people. Some called them ancestors, others – enemies.
Representatives of the Saysiyat tribe claim that it was they who destroyed the last Negrito village about a thousand years ago and still repent of this.
Until recently, scientists knew about the “negrito” only from oral and written sources.
But the latest discovery allowed them to better study the mysterious natives. Fragments of a female skeleton were found in a cave on the east coast of the island.
The woman was buried in a squatting position. Near the remains, deposits of Neolithic ceramics and Iron Age artifacts, whose age ranged from 2600 to 6000 thousand years, were also preserved.
The height of the woman was about four feet and six inches (137 centimeters).
DNA analysis of the skull showed that it is close to African samples, and its features are reminiscent of the blacks of the Philippines and South Africa, which are known for their short stature.
The study showed that in ancient times, a special people really lived in Taiwan.
But scientists don’t yet know why it disappeared. According to one version, the invasion of Austronesian tribes could contribute to its extinction.
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