對於嘉義縣新港鄉板頭村遺址出土陶瓷年代的一點意見

A Few Opinions on Dating the Ceramics Excavated at Pan-t'ou Village in the Hsin-kang District of Chiayi County

位於臺灣北港溪南岸的板頭村遺堆，相傳即清代諸羅縣笨港縣丞署舊址的所在地。該遺址於民國八十八年由國立自然科學博物館進行了考古發掘，出土標本有銅器、玻璃器、石器、牙骨器和陶瓷器等各種質材，而以窯瓷器的數量最多，計五千餘件（片）。發掘報告書主要依據出土陶瓷及其在探坑的疊壓關係認為：板頭村遺跡和遺物的相對年代約於雍正八年至嘉慶二十五年（1730－1820）之間，進而結合文獻記載間接地提示了板頭村遺址或有可能是因嘉慶年間北港溪氾濫成災而廢棄的。本文的主要目的，是擬借由國外發現的可大致掌握其相對年代的陶瓷標本，來檢討板頭村遺址所見同類標本的時代。經由比對，初步認為板頭村遺址出土陶瓷的年代跨幅較大，既存在可能可早自清初雍正時期的遣物，也包括不少晚迄清後期道光年間的作品。因此，板頭村遺址雖於嘉慶年間遭受水害侵襲，但出土陶瓷卻也表最了聚落並未因此而廢棄，居民仍舊持續在此活動營生。

The archeological site at Pan-t'ou, located on the southern bank of Taiwan's Peikang Stream, is situated on what is traditionally regarded as the historic location of the Ch'ing Dynasty's Deputy Administrative Office of Chu-lo and Pen-kang Counties. Excavated in 1999 by the National Museum of Natural Science, the site revealed objects crafted from a variety of different materials, including bronze, glass, stone, bone, and ceramic. The largest single category of objects was ceramics, which totaled over 5000 individual items and shards. Based on the appearance and stratal relationship of these ceramic pieces, the archeological report dated the site and its contents to a period spanning the years 1730 to 1820. Following textual evidence, the report further suggested that the site was abandoned in the wake of a disastrous flood that occurred during the reign of the Chia-ch'ing emperor (1796-1820). The primary purpose of the present essay is to compare datable ceramic samples found in foreign collections with matching pieces from the Pan-t'ou site. This comparison will demonstrate that the chronology of the site can and should be expanded to as early as the Yung-cheng reign (1723-1735) and as late as the Tao-kuang reign (1821-1850). This extended chronology proves that the China-ch'ing flood did not cause the abandonment of the site, and that the local inhabitants continued to utilize the area following the disaster.