The Concept of Taiwania

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The Concept of Taiwania

Taiwania was the cradle of the Austronesian people. Its range had included Taiwan, the shores of East Asia, the Yangtze River Delta, the Ryukyu Islands, parts of Japan, the Korean Peninsula (out of whatever we can see today), and the Taiwan Strait, East China Sea, Japanese Sea (out of whatever is under the sea level at present). It’ was a large landmass before the end of the Ice Age 11,400 years ago. At both the Yangtze River Delta and the Ryukyu Islands there were archaeological evidences of human habitation from 15,000 years ago. Before the end of the Ice Age, Taiwania was a region with mild climate and suitable for human beings with prolific fauna and flora.

The discoveries of the fossils of Bubalus teilhardi, Elaphurus davidianus, and Palaeoloxodon naumanni penghunensis at Penghu Trench have been dated by the National Museum of Natural Science of Taiwan to be between 40,000 and 10,000 years-old. The fauna is almost as identical as the fauna of Huai River Delta of China in the contemporary period.

Human beings have flourished there for at least 5,000 years. Up to the end of the Ice Age 11,400 years ago, back then Taiwan was separated from the Asia Continent. Taiwania is not a new concept. The other concepts on a landmass that no longer exist in present day, including Zealandia and Beringia, are all supported by geological and paleontological evidences.

Links for further information:

• Fauna of Penghu Trench, Taiwan

(Translated from: 臺灣澎湖海溝動物群)

• A Sunken Bridge the Size of a Continent

• Zealandia: Earth’s Hidden Continent