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A
place often visited by tourists when coming to
Tainan is the historic neighborhood of Anping.
Anping Fort, which remains the signature destination
of the area, was the first castle built in Taiwan
by the Dutch.
The
Dutch first built a small castle by the name of
Orange on this site. Later it was expanded, and
renamed Fort Zeelandia. It became an administrative
and trading center, and although the name has been
changed more than ten times, the building has earned
itself a permanent place in history.
It
was not until 1983, with the enactment of the Cultural
Preservation Law, that the fort was officially
recognized as an historical monument of national
importance. The castle once again changed its name--from
Zeelandia to the Anping Fort Taiwan Cultural Heritage
Site.
All
that is left of the castle is the outer wall of
the north-facing side, the outer wall facing southwest,
and the half-circle of the inner castle. Other
remaining parts of the castle walls are hidden
within private property.
No
blueprints of the castle have survived, and to
better understand the history of the building,
an archeological team was brought together. This
team included people from Tainan City Government,
professional archeologists, civil engineers, art
historians, and educationalists. Ground Penetrating
Radar (GPR) was used from August 2003 onward, allowing
the walls to be studied without causing further
damage.
The
results of all this work are being made public,
and integrated to create Taiwan's first-ever public
display of live archeological work. The team is
going about its work in an exceptionally thorough
manner, and hopes to gather enough artifacts and
information to produce a complete archeological
plan for the castle.
After
initial analyses, it was decided to approach the
castle from three points--Test Pits 1, 2, and 3
(TP1, TP2, and TP3). The team is examining porcelain,
tools, and documents which the Dutch left behind
more than 300 years ago. One kind of teapot--now
dubbed the Anping Teapot--has been found dispersed
throughout the site.
Another artifact unearthed was a blue-and-white porcelain piece, made
from imported Kraak Porcelain, and originally from the Chinese mainland.
Nearly a hundred fragments of artifacts were uncovered in each of the
three spots. Two Majolica items (from seventeenth-century Delft in the
Netherlands) were uncovered in TP1 and TP2. In TP2, archeologists unearthed
a wine pot that may have been a 17th century salt-glaze ceramic model
from Rhineland, Germany. It is believed that a German man by the name
of Bartmannskrug might have owned the pot.
All
of these pieces reveal the complexity of trade
during the "Age Of Sail." Though the
actual fort is in ruins, the artifacts reveal much
about the Dutch colonization era. During four months
of archeological work, the site has had around
180,000 visitors. Through guided tours and a monthly
publication, the public has learned from the work
done by the archeologists. The team is seeking
government assistance to fund further excavations
and investigations.
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