A woman buried in Taiwan in the Late Paleolithic era
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Explore the recorded context, genetic comparisons and research behind this reference sample.
A reference profile describes this sample. It does not establish a personal or family relationship.
Recorded details and available lineage markers.
Austronesian individual, Taiwan
Sample ID: tai002
5640 BCE - 5560 BCE
Late Paleolithic Taiwan
Female
Not available
Not available
Gatherer (AI estimate, era-typical)
Where this individual was discovered
A location map is not available for this record.
When this individual lived in the broader context of human history
Background information associated with the reference record.
Taiwan’s Late Paleolithic landscapes included coastal and inland areas affected by climatic shifts during the late Pleistocene. Mountainous terrain and variable coastline would have influenced the availability of animal resources, freshwater, and travel routes, while shoreline settings supported access to marine foods where preserved.
This era (c. 50,000–10,000 BCE) predates most agricultural lifeways on the island by many millennia. Human activities are inferred from archaeological deposits and lithic industries, with periodization based on artifact typology and stratigraphic relationships rather than historical narratives.
Populations were likely mobile hunter-gatherers. Their subsistence would have depended on hunting terrestrial animals, collecting plant foods, and exploiting coastal resources where conditions allowed. Seasonal movement patterns—though hard to reconstruct precisely—would have helped communities track changing resource availability.
Material culture in Late Paleolithic contexts is dominated by stone tools and debitage. Toolmaking strategies reflect adaptation to local raw material sources and working needs, such as cutting, scraping, and processing tasks. Preservation can be uneven due to later landscape changes, so archaeologists rely on what survives in dated stratigraphic sequences.
Society would have been organized around small groups and shared technical knowledge passed between individuals. Similarities and differences in lithic production can indicate interaction between groups or independent adaptation to local ecological conditions.
The Late Paleolithic record forms the deep baseline for later prehistoric developments on Taiwan. Over time, technological and subsistence strategies changed, culminating in later Neolithic transformations; the transition is tracked archaeologically through shifts from mainly lithic industries toward more varied toolkits and eventually farming-related evidence.
These comparisons show genetic similarity, not identity or origin. The populations listed are those whose genomes show statistical alignment to this ancient individual.
Similarity reflects shared history, not shared identity. These are analytical comparisons, not claims about who this person was.
This analysis compares the DNA profile with present-day reference populations, showing statistical similarity to modern reference populations from different regions. The excavation site records where this individual was found, not a fixed modern genetic identity.
These are the modern populations showing the closest statistical alignment to A woman buried in Taiwan in the Late Paleolithic era, ranked by genetic distance. Lower distance values indicate closer statistical similarity. Cross-region similarity can reflect shared ancestry, population movement, continuity, or later admixture.
This individual exists within a broader network of ancient samples. No ancient genome stands alone.
| Individual | Culture/Period | Date | Location | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austronesian individual, Taiwan | Late Paleolithic Taiwan | 6378 BCE | Liangdao, Taiwan | View |
| Austronesian individual, Taiwan | Late Paleolithic Taiwan | 5640 BCE | Liangdao, Taiwan | View |
| Late Paleolithic individual, Taiwan | 6378 BCE | Liangdao, Taiwan | View | |
| Late Paleolithic individual, Taiwan | 5640 BCE | Liangdao, Taiwan | View |
Scientific publications and genetic data that inform this profile.
These coordinates represent a position in genetic space, a tool for comparison, not a conclusion. You can use these to perform custom admixture analysis in G25 Studio.
tai002,0.01237236,-0.36086956,-0.04574242,-0.03433678,0.11005334,0.0475259,-0.00022714,-0.00632896,-0.00780074,-0.0121264,0.0256159,0.00250506,-0.00179792,-0.00110326,0.00315166,0.00047554,-0.0001061,0.0002502,-0.00180234,-0.00142382,0.00227426,0.00412866,0.00077686,-0.00032002,0.01219729