A 4,000-year-old cobra-shaped ceramic pen fragment has been unearthed on Taiwan’s northwestern coast, a discovery reported by Arkeonews. The artifact’s design—an aggressive cobra formed in clay—suggests it may have belonged to a ritual object used in ceremonial contexts rather than everyday writing tools.
Found in a dune ecosystem along the edge of the coast, the cobra figure likely held symbolic importance. Its clay handle, sculpted to resemble a venomous serpent poised to strike, points to the possibility that it was part of a larger ritual vessel or a ceremonial implement used by ancient practitioners. Radiocarbon dating places the object at roughly 4,000 years old, underscoring its significance within Taiwan’s prehistoric record.
Long before contact with Chinese and Japanese populations, Taiwan was inhabited by indigenous communities of Austronesian heritage. Today, these communities are believed to comprise a small fraction of the island’s population, with historical roots stretching back thousands of years. In traditional beliefs, many of these groups held animist views that attributed a spirit to natural objects. The snake motif on the pen aligns with such beliefs, suggesting the cobra may have embodied a spiritual or protective role within ritual practices.
Along the same shoreline, researchers recovered a variety of other prehistoric items, including stone flakes and cores used in the manufacture and processing of stone tools. These finds help sketch a broader picture of daily life and technology in ancient Taiwan, indicating a society that produced and utilized stone-based equipment as part of its subsistence and ritual activities.
In other archaeological notes from Europe, a separate stratigraphic context reveals exceptionally rare artifacts, highlighting how diverse ancient crafts can be across regions. While these Danish finds illuminate the broader tapestry of early metalwork and symbolic objects, the Taiwanese cobra adds a valuable chapter to the story of ritual symbolism and craft in prehistoric East Asia.