Materialising Colonial Authority: A Comparative Archaeology of Police Outposts in Taiwan’s Mountains

CHENG Chieh-fu Jeff * and WU Mu-chun

During Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan, police outposts were pivotal in governing indigenous populations in mountainous frontiers. This study compares two distinct outpost types to understand how material practices evolved across temporal and spatial contexts. The first case, Kuskus Police Outpost (1900-1935), was an early administrative unit near a Paiwan village, excavated by the National Taiwan University. The second case examines the 1921–194 5 outposts along the Batongguan Cross- island Trail – a strategic network deep within Bunun territory, documented through Academia Sinica surveys. Comparative analysis reveals sharp contrasts in architecture and daily life. At Kuskus, although layouts followed Japanese prototypes, construction exhibited hybridity, blending Japanese techniques with local resources. Conversely, despite extreme logistical challenges, the later Batongguan outposts strictly adhered to standardized Japanese timber-frame traditions. Dietary practices show a similar divergence: Kuskus yielded local utensils and foodstuffs, reflecting early local engagement. In contrast, the remote Batongguan outposts produced artefacts identical to those in the Japanese metropole. This study suggests that the shift from early hybridity to later standardized "Japaneseness" in remote frontiers was a deliberate strategy to reinforce colonial identity and authority. These findings provide a nuanced understanding of the evolving strategies of Japanese colonial expansion in Taiwan’s indigenous frontiers.