Event: WEDS TALK: Ancient Fish Consumption in Southwestern Taiwan: Two Case Studies

ABSTRACT: This presentation will cover two archaeological case studies around fish in Taiwan that I have been working on with Dr. Chieh-Hsiang Lin at Academia Sinica. Despite fish being one of the most abundant resources on the island, there has been very limited research about it until recently. Our first study, centered around the otolith assemblage in Southwest Taiwan, aims to examine changes in fish resource consumption. Instead of attributing these changes to ancient overfishing, we find that the transition in the otolith assemblage is more likely linked to alterations in the coastal environment. Our second study further investigate the large yellow croaker, an endangered species in East Asia also found in our sites. By comparing fossils, archaeological remains, and modern individuals, we discover that the subgroup around Taiwan has undergone transitions in life history, and their representation is also decreasing compared to the past, similar to the analysis of the subgroup near China.

BIO: Yen Chun Wang is a third year student in the IDP program of UCLA. He received his BA degree in National Taiwan University anthropology and MA degree from UCLA archaeology. His is interested in human environment interaction, such as fish consumption in the past and more recently, sugar production in Early Modern Taiwan.