214: Eventual evidence of a once disregarded story

A team of researchers with members from Australia, Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam found a 6,000-year-old skull and femur bones in a cave in a mountainous part of Taiwan recently that might prove the existence of an ancient Indigenous tribe. In their paper published in the journal World Archaeology, the group describes the skull, where it was found and what it might represent.

In Taiwan, there have been stories passed down through the generations about a tribe of short, dark-skinned people that once lived in mountainous parts of the island. But until now, there has been no physical evidence of them. In this new effort, the researchers found a skull and leg bones in a cave that have been dated back to approximately 6,000 years ago—a time before the ancestors of people alive on the island arrived.

In studying DNA from the skull, the researchers found it close to African samples from around the same time period. But they also found that its size and shape resemble that of Negritos, who lived in parts of what is now South Africa and in the Philippines. Study of bones left behind in those areas showed them to be quite short with a small body size. Femur bones found near the skull were from the same person as the skull, a young woman. The researchers estimate she stood approximately 1.3 meters tall.

The researchers suggest their findings confirm the existence of the ancient people on Taiwan but they do not explain what might have happened to them. They were apparently gone by the time other early Austronesian groups of people began arriving. The researchers also note that mention of small, dark-skinned people was made in documents from the Quin Dynasty, and all but one of the 16 Austronesian groups living in Taiwan today have stories that describe small, dark-skinned people who once lived in the mountains. Such tales differ, however, between groups, the researchers note, with some believing that the earlier people were ancestors of theirs. Others see them as former enemies. One group claims to have killed off the last of the ancient people 1,000 years ago.

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Now, if old legends deemed just as legends are then found to be true, that supports our assertion that absence of evidence is not always evidence of absence. In NZ, it was 'rumoured' that we too had a short dark-skinned race of short people that even Maori said once existed (in legend). Strangely, our tall race is not in any old Maori legend... although we now know they did exist - we have that large femur.

The point here is this... They DID find what was once just a rumour. They were of a different race to the current inhabitants, they were short, and the were 'apparently' gone by the time Austronesians arrived. Apparently? How do they deduced that other than this one individual was 6000 years old. That doesn't prove they were gone when Austronesians arrived.

That we too had 3 or 4 old races as per the legends in NZ, so it is also possible in NZ, except they haven't been found yet, at least not to the public's knowledge and Maori would not let that be public knowledge if they could stop it would they? All this has to, and will, change in time.

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence and this article from Taiwan proves it. We said that in 2016 and we have since showed - with evidence - it to be true. Strange though that not one scientific organization has even asked us for the bone to test. What are they afraid of...?

What indeed?