Sketch of Archilife Study Tour, May 2023
2023年5月份見識之旅縮影
![]() For the study tour of May 20, 2023, Ms. Lu Ming-yun led 21 ARF interns and their parents on a discovery trip to Tainan Branch of the National Museum of Prehistory and Qigu Lagoon in Tainan. ![]() The study tour began with a visit to Museum of Archaeology, Tainan Branch of National Museum of Prehistory. As the first archaeology-themed museum in Taiwan, this institution has been established to preserve relics unearthed during the development of Tainan Science Park. The tour guide led everyone through a glass tube, symbolizing a time tunnel, in an anticlockwise direction from top to bottom. This implies that everyone embraced the spirit of exploration by venturing into the past to witness the footprints left by early inhabitants at prehistoric sites. In the museum, representative relics from different eras are showcased at the prehistoric site. In particular, the bone dice of the Siraya culture over 400 years ago looked exactly the same as the six-sided game dice we use today. This fact arouses curiosity about their previous applications. Then, the tour guide led everyone across a floor paved with reinforced glass. Looking through the glass, one could see an excavation pit measuring two meters by two meters. It is part of a grid system used in archaeology that delineates the entire site in squares, enabling archaeologists to easily record the locations of artifacts and eventually form a comprehensive understanding of the site. The final stop of the tour was a hidden chamber that housed special exhibits in the museum. It is the back end of the museum where archaeologists and specialists work on the analysis, restoration, and preservation. Through the tour guide's explanation, everyone gained a deeper understanding of how a prehistoric site begins as an excavation site and eventually becomes part of a museum. Archaeological science has also provided a glimpse into how people lived thousands of years ago and has given us food for thought regarding the concept of time. ![]() The afternoon's itinerary was a trip to Hailiao Pier in Qigu, where everyone would enjoy an eco-tour of the lagoon on the Ferry Longhai. Interns observed many oyster racks in the lagoon, and oyster farmers regularly patrolled to check on the growth of the oysters. Pulling out a rack of oyster, the tour guide explained how the farmers strung the oyster shells and put them in seawater to allow young oysters to attach on the shells. The tour included a stopover at Wangzailiao Sandbar. In Minnan dialect, a sandbar like this is known as "a large fish that keeps on swimming" because it constantly changes due to tides and sand deposits. However, over the past 20 years, not only have natural disasters and changes in the marine environment reduced the supply of river sand, but erosion caused by ocean waves has also led to a gradual decrease in its surface area. As a result, sand has been accumulating in the lagoon instead. Thus, plants have been cultivated on the sandbar to block the wind and stabilize the sand, with the aim of reducing sedimentation in the lagoon. After returning to the pier, followed by a short break, savoring the local delicacy deepened their impression of Qigu Lagoon. Even if the sandbars were to disappear from our map one day, interns would still cherish their precious memories. As the day's tour came to an end, everyone took a group photo before heading back home and looked forward to the next study tour. |