Introduced or Local Development? Re-evaluating Plant Resource Use in Prehistoric Taiwan

CHEN Yi-lin Elaine

Taiwan is widely regarded as a key region in discussions of Neolithic dispersal in the Indo-Pacific, particularly in relation to the spread of Austronesian-speaking populations and the introduction of rice and millet agriculture from mainland East Asia. Within this framework, discussions of plant use in prehistoric Taiwan have largely focused on these cereals, while other plant resources have received comparatively little attention. This paper re-evaluates the use of plant resources in prehistoric Taiwan by synthesizing currently available archaeobotanical evidence. The results suggest that prehistoric communities in Taiwan exploited a broader spectrum of plant resources than is commonly assumed, including underground storage organs, tree crops, and other locally available plants. Rather than representing a simple case of agricultural introduction, the evidence points to a more complex subsistence strategy in which introduced crops were integrated with existing traditions of local plant exploitation. This re-evaluation highlights the importance of local ecological knowledge and flexible subsistence strategies in island environments and contributes to broader discussions of plant use and Neolithic lifeways in Island Southeast Asia and the Pacific.