Two of Taiwan's oldest high-altitude archaeological sites were unearthed in Hsinmei, an aboriginal village near the summit of Mount Ali in the southern county of Chiayi, according to reports from Taipei Thursday.

Taiwan's archaeological experts confirmed that the newly discovered cultural relics were buried about 3,800 years ago, making them more than 1,000 years older than the 2,500-year-old Puli cultural relics discovered a decade ago.

Ho Chuan-kun, a leading archaeologist in Taiwan, was quoted as saying that the new discovery would advance the history of high-altitude human activities in Taiwan by more than a millennium.

Two weeks ago, Ho led his team of researchers and 10 excavators on an arduous expedition in the region again. This time, they dug two carefully selected sites in accordance with a legend that Takubuyanu people liked to plant mango trees beside their homes.

The workers dug two 1.5-meter-deep (4.9-feet-deep) caves, each of which covered eight square meters(ten sqare yards). In the first cave, two well-preserved limestone sarcophagi were recovered.

At the second site, located some 300 meters (0.2 miles) away, researchers discovered a number of stone articles, including axes and hoes as well as pieces of pottery utensils. Archaeologists said the site used to be a residential area and that the articles unearthed belonged to two different eras.

Ho said an analysis of recovered pottery artifacts proves that those found at the bottom layer were left some 3,800 years ago and those at the upper layer were created about 1,700 years ago.

A few years ago, ruins suspected to be left by the now extinct Takubuyanu people were discovered at the border between Chashan and Hsinmei. Farmers in the Chashan area have often unearthed primeval stone slabs and coffins when digging on their farmland.

(Xinhua News Agency March 29, 2002)