400-year-old Spanish settlement excavated in Taiwan

Archaeologists are looking for remains of the 400-year-old Spanish settlement of San Salvador in Taiwan, built in the 17th century during their short occupation of the island. The excavations are being conducted in a parking lot of a shipbuilding dock.

Researchers digging to find 400-year-old Spanish remains in Taiwan
Taiwan News, 13 November 2011

Taiwanese and Spanish researchers have been cooperating on an excavation project to find an “embryo city” built by the Spaniards in Taiwan nearly 400 years ago. The excavation, co-funded by Taiwan’s National Science Council (NSC) and the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), began in early October at Heping Island in the northeastern city of Keelung, where construction of a city named San Salvador began in 1626 during Spain’s 1626-1642 occupation of northern Taiwan. At present, archeologists have dug six test pits in a parking lot belonging to Taiwan’s China Shipbuilding Corp. in their search for the remains of a Spanish convent that was once part of the city built to ensure Spain’s foothold in East Asia maritime trade.

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