Prehistoric Era and Indigenous Peoples: From Changbin 20,000–30,000 Years Ago to the Austronesian Dispersal Origin

30-second overview: The earliest confirmed human activity in Taiwan is the Changbin Culture, dating to approximately 20,000–30,000 years ago (Paleolithic era, best represented by the Baxian Cave site in Taitung).¹ There are 16 officially recognized indigenous peoples, with a total population of approximately 620,000.² Taiwan is regarded by most linguistic research as one possible origin of the Austronesian language family: of the 10 major branches of the Austronesian family, 9 are found in Taiwan—a density far higher than across the Pacific islands.³ A 2024 National Geographic report on the latest genetic research indicates that around 8,000 years ago there was also a dispersal route originating from Indonesia, with dispersal from Taiwan accounting for roughly 20%, challenging the claim that Taiwan is the sole point of origin (P0⚠️ pending academic consensus).⁴ Before the 17th century, cross-tribal political organizations such as the Kingdom of Middag already existed.⁵

Changbin Culture: Earliest Human Activity in Taiwan

The earliest confirmed human activity in Taiwan is the Changbin Culture, dating to approximately 20,000–30,000 years ago, belonging to the late Paleolithic era, represented by the chipped stone tools unearthed at the Baxian Cave site in Changbin Township, Taitung County.¹

The chipped stone tools of the Changbin Culture indicate that humans at that time lived by hunting and gathering, with no signs of agricultural settlement. The cave site at Baxian Cave in Taitung is located along the coast, and shell middens (accumulated shell deposits) reflect a lifestyle centered on coastal resources. This 20,000–30,000-year-old starting point is the earliest material cultural record currently confirmed in Taiwan's human history.

(Note: Some articles cite "approximately 50,000 years ago," which results from conflating sites from different periods. P0 confirms the Changbin Culture dates to 20,000–30,000 years ago; the earlier "Penghu 1" fossil has a separate chronological estimate and belongs to a different archaeological context.)

Evolution of Prehistoric Cultures

Taiwan's prehistoric cultures are divided into three chronological stages:

Late Paleolithic (approximately 20,000–30,000 to 7,000 years ago): Changbin Culture and Yuanshan Pre-ceramic Culture, primarily hunter-gatherer societies.

Neolithic (approximately 6,500 to 1,900 years ago): Dabenkeng Culture (earliest pottery), Niumatou Culture, Yuanshan Culture—agricultural settlement gradually matured, overlapping significantly with the formative period of Austronesian culture.

Metal/Iron Age (approximately 1,800 to 350 years ago): Shihsanhang Culture (northern Taiwan), where iron tool use promoted social complexity.⁵

16 Officially Recognized Indigenous Peoples

The Council of Indigenous Peoples of the Republic of China currently officially recognizes 16 indigenous peoples: Amis, Atayal, Bunun, Paiwan, Puyuma, Rukai, Saisiyat, Thao, Tsou, Tao (Yami), Truku, Kavalan, Sakizaya, Seediq, Hla'alua, and Kanakanavu.² The total population is approximately 620,000, with the Amis being the largest group (approximately 220,000) and the Kanakanavu the smallest (approximately 436).

The "official recognition" of the 16 peoples is an ongoing administrative process, not a one-time classification. The recognition of groups such as the Thao and Kavalan was completed only after 2001, reflecting the evolution of Taiwan's indigenous policy from unified management of "mountain peoples" to a recognition pathway that respects the distinct identity of each group. This list also does not mean that Taiwan's indigenous peoples comprise only 16 cultural branches—some scholars and members of the communities themselves believe that the recognition of additional groups remains incomplete.

The Taiwan Origin Hypothesis for the Austronesian Language Family

Linguistic classification shows that the languages of Taiwan's indigenous peoples preserve the most archaic features within the Austronesian language family. Of the 10 major branches of the Austronesian family, 9 are found in Taiwan, while all Pacific islands share the remaining 1 branch. This density of linguistic diversity supports the hypothesis that "Taiwan is the dispersal origin of the Austronesian language family."³ The implication of this ratio is: if the Austronesian family dispersed from a single location, that location should retain the most language branches, and Taiwan's 9 branches compared to the Pacific's 1 is one of the strongest linguistic indicators of an origin point.

2024 latest research challenge: National Geographic reported a genetic study indicating that around 8,000 years ago there was another dispersal route originating from Indonesia, with dispersal from Taiwan accounting for approximately 20% of overall Austronesian expansion; this challenges the claim that Taiwan is the sole point of origin.⁴ (This is the latest research; academic consensus is still forming.)

The implication of this latest research is not to overturn Taiwan's importance in Austronesian origins, but to point toward a more complex multi-origin model: the dispersal of the Austronesian language family may have involved multiple origin centers operating simultaneously. Taiwan is the origin point with the greatest linguistic diversity, but not the only point of departure. The debate across the three disciplines of archaeology, genetics, and linguistics is ongoing, and there is currently no single definitive answer.

17th Century: The Kingdom of Middag

Before the arrival of the Dutch in the 17th century, central Taiwan already had the "Kingdom of Middag" (Middag Kingdom), a cross-tribal alliance with rudimentary political organizational capacity, with influence spanning the Taichung Basin to the Changhua region.⁵

The existence of the Kingdom of Middag demonstrates that before the Dutch arrived, Taiwan was not an unorganized "wilderness," but had already developed cross-ethnic political negotiation mechanisms. This organization came into conflict with the Dutch during the colonial period and later with the Zheng regime. The Kingdom of Middag was ultimately dissolved by the Zheng regime at the end of the 17th century, but its existence marks an important starting point in the history of indigenous political organization in Taiwan.

These four threads—the Paleolithic starting point of the Changbin Culture, the three-stage evolution of prehistoric cultures, the current status of the 16 officially recognized peoples, and the ongoing debate over the Austronesian dispersal origin—form the basic framework for understanding the place of Taiwan's indigenous peoples in global human history. The human history of the island of Taiwan had already accumulated over 20,000 years before the large-scale arrival of Han Chinese settlers.

Further reading: Austronesian Peoples — Wikipedia ｜ Council of Indigenous Peoples ｜ Academia Sinica: Formosan Language Research

References