 This paper makes use of the most recent archaeological data to examine and present the lifestyles at prehistoric settlements of northern Taiwan, in order to understand the developmental changes in the appearances of cultural contents and settlement patterns of these prehistoric cultures of northern Taiwan over several thousand years. On the basis of current archaeological data, it is clear that Shuntanpu Early Culture, Shuntanpu Late Culture, Yuanshan Culture, Botanical Garden Culture, and

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... hsanhang Culture all had stilt-type (raised-platform) housing. Wooden pillars were erected in round holes of approximately 10-20 cm (though some are larger) dug into the earth, gravel layer, or sandstone bedrock, and it is surmised that these were then made more stable by packing small stones or ramming earth into the holes around the pillars. Coming to the long-standing controversy as to the origins of the Shihsanhang Culture, Shihsanhang Culture clearly inherited important content from the prehistoric cultures that inhabited northern Taiwan over the previous several thousand years and represents the developmental evolution of northern Taiwan archaeological cultures. One other aspect: Shihsanhang Culture has a stronger maritime character. Not only did it have frequent contacts with other contemporaneous archaeological cultures in Taiwan, but also conducted trading interactions with people in China and Southeast Asia, shaping Shihsanhang's complex and unique cultural appearance. Preface The development of archaeology in Taiwan has been closely connected to the discovery and research of sites in the north of the island. These include discoveries of the Chihshanyen (芝山岩) Site in 1896 and Yuanshan (圓山) Site in 1897, which raised the curtain on archaeological research. Moreover, large-scale excavation of metallurgical workshop and a large quantity of iron piece at the Shihsanhang (十三行) Site show how the technological level of the prehistoric peoples had already progressed from grinding stone tools to entering the Metal Age, and how metallurgy also had considerable impact on the social life and trade networks at that time. More recently, during large-scale excavations at the Botanical Garden (植物園) Site, the author unearthed abundant remains of rice and millet cultivation belonging to Shuntanpu Early Culture (訊塘埔早期 文化), which represents local Taiwan continuation of the Nanguanli and Nanguanlidong (南關里, 南關里東) Sites in Tainan, other important sites at which cultivation of crop has been discovered, and which date back to approximately 5,000 to 4,000 years ago.