Interns notice green item on ground — and find rare ancient artifact in Taiwan. See it
Lin Jiale and Li Ende had big plans for their winter vacation from school: They were interning at an archaeological site in Taiwan.
The two college students were working at the Beisanzhan archaeological site, officials told Radio Taiwan International, according to a Feb. 2 story. They were tasked with organizing and measuring finds, as well as leading guided tours.
While on the site, the interns spotted something strange and green on the ground.
When they looked closer, they realized it was a rare human-animal shaped jade pendant, the Archaeological Museum of Hualien County wrote in a Feb. 1 Facebook post.
National Tsing Hua University, where the two interns are students, shared photos showing the small artifact in a Jan. 31 Facebook post.
The discovery is more rare than winning the lottery, museum curator Wen Mengwei told Rebirth News Network, according to a Feb. 1 story. The relic is about 1.2 inches long, 0.6 inches wide and 0.1 inches thick.
Finds at the Beisanzhan site date to between 3,500 years ago and 2,000 years ago, officials told the news outlet.
The figure has a small puncture in its neck, but experts have not determined its purpose yet, museum officials said on Facebook.
Experts are working to compare the discovery to other, similar artifacts in the museums collection to learn more.
Hualien is a city on Taiwan’s east coast.
Google Translate, Facebook and Baidu were used to translate Facebook posts from National Tsing Hua University and the Archaeological Museum of Hualien County, as well as stories from Radio Taiwan International and Rebirth News Network.
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