Beinan Cultural Park (monolith)

Peinan Site Park, also called Beinan, is an archaeological site in Taitung City, Taitung County, Taiwan. It is described as the site of the largest and most complete prehistoric settlement ever discovered in Taiwan. The park covers an area of 10,000 square metres (2.5 acres) and contains more than 1,600 burial sites. It is part of the potential World Heritage Site named Beinan Archaeological Site and Mt. Dulan.

The earliest records of the site were made by Torii Ryūzō, an anthropologist in the early period of Japanese rule. During his four visits to Taiwan for anthropological research, he photographed the monolithic stone pillars at the site, which is why the catalogue lists the place as a monolith.

The settlement area was discovered in 1980 during construction work on the back part of Taitung railway station, when a graveyard containing several thousand slate coffins was unearthed, with some bodies still laid within. Around 20,000 pieces of jade, pottery and stone tools were also found. This led the government to carry out archaeological work and to build a national museum to preserve the artifacts.

Peinan Site Park opened in 1997 to display and preserve the site, which is considered the most important one in Taiwan. An indoor and outdoor Museum of Prehistory opened in 2002. The park consists of an archaeological site for visitors and the nearby National Museum of Prehistory. The catalogue gives a date of 3000 to 2000 BCE, taken from a source statement, but no further detail about the pillars themselves is recorded here.

The park covers an area of 10,000 square metres (2.5 acres) and contains more than 1,600 burial sites. It is part of the "Beinan Archaeological Site and Mt. Dulan" potential World Heritage Site.