The earliest records of the prehistoric Peinan Site in Taitung City were made by
Torii Ryūzō, an
anthropologist in the early period of the
Japanese rule. During his four visits to Taiwan for
anthropological research, he photographed the
monolithic stone pillars at the site. This historic settlement area was discovered during the construction work of the back part of
Taitung railway station in 1980 when a
graveyard containing several thousand
slate coffins was unearthed, with some bodies still laid within. Around 20,000 pieces of
jade,
pottery and
stone tools were also found. This induced the government to carry out
archeological work and build a
national museum to preserve the
artifacts. Peinan Site Park opened in 1997 to display and preserve the archaeological site, considered the most important one in Taiwan. An indoor/outdoor
Museum of Prehistory opened in 2002. ==Features==