Habitation Environment
The Atayal live in the mountains and along the middle and upper river valleys of the uplands of northern and central Taiwan. They inhabit a wide area from Wulai in the north to Wanta in the south and from Nanshih in the west to Nanao in the east, although they are mainly concentrated on the north-western and northeastern slopes of the Hsueh-shan mountain range and along the middle and upper reaches of the Ta-k’o-k’an River. Spread over a broader area than any other aboriginal group, their villages are quite widely scattered and range in vertical distribution from sea level to an elevation of 2,000 meters. Some 60% of their settlements lie at between 500 meters and 1500 meters, and are not only high in the mountains but on very steep terrain. Here the climate features an annual rainfall averaging 3000mm, and the air temperature drops by 0.45-0.50℃ for every 100 meters of altitude. In the mountains of northern Taiwan the mean temperatures for January and July are 2℃ and 15℃ at an altitude of 2000 meters, while in central Taiwan the equivalent readings are 7.5℃ and 15.4℃. It is usually damp and misty in the mountains, except that in the central and southern mountain zone there is quite a prolonged dry spell during the cooler months. Frost and snow are rare in the plains and hills of Taiwan but are common in the mountainous regions. As the temperature is too cold for agricultural crops to grow at altitudes of over 2000 meters, most of the Atayal keep to somewhat lower slopes..

Atayal Buildings
　　The Atayal include the Atayal proper and the Sediq subgroup, both of which are mentioned in records dating from the Ch`ing dynasty. The total population is 91,397 (according to 2000 government figures). Generally the Atayal are distributed throughout 12 rural districts in eight different counties of Taiwan, namely Wulai district in Taipei county; Fuhsing district in Taoyuan county; Chienshih & Wufeng districts in Hsinchu county; Taian district in Miaoli county; Hoping district in Taichung county; Jenai district in Nantou county; Hsiulin, Wanjung & Chohsi districts in Hualien county; and Tatung & Nanao districts in Ilan county. There are also scattered pockets living in the districts of Juanhsi, Sanmin, Shoufeng and Yuli. In all the above-mentioned districts the Atayal tend to occupy the mountainous areas.
　　
　　The scattered nature of Atayal settlements has profound significance for their economic and social life. Many of their settlements consist of less than twenty households, and most of them are sited along river valleys. To avoid monsoon flooding and the fierce winds of the exposed mountain peaks, their settlements tend to be concentrated part-way down the slopes of river valleys where springs and streams provide ample water supply. Facing out over the valley and with the mountain slope behind, these settlements enjoy natural barriers and with steep, narrow access routes they are easily defended. Some of the cultivated land lies nearby, while the rest may lie one or two hours walk away.
　　
　　Agriculture and hunting make up the main economic activities of the Atayal, with livestock a secondary occupation. They plan out their work for the year by a lunar calendar, and everything revolves around agriculture. The busiest time falls during July and August, closely followed by November, but other months involve a more leisurely routine allowing for other work such as hunting. Atayal agriculture is based on slash-and-burn methods, in which in late November and early December, following the winter crop harvest, the rice and millet fields are burnt in preparation for millet sowing at the year`s end and rice sowing (in dry fields) in May. When the millet is reaped in June, sweet potato is planted. July and August see the Festival of Ancestral Spirits, the second sowing of crops and the rice harvest. The slack period in October is usually devoted to trapping and hunting. All year long, except for rainy days when the womenfolk weave cloth at home and the menfolk do other handicraft work, they work in the fields almost every day.
　　
　　Hunting is an important activity in the slack periods, for apart from bringing in meat supplies it provides skins, furs, deer antlers and gourmet delicacies which play a vital role in trade with the Chinese population in the plains. Household livestock breeding of chickens and pigs is also an important aspect of village life. The Atayal prize martial prowess and used to be head-hunters, a practice which was encouraged by feuding and tribal warfare. A warrior who had obtained a human head was entitled to wear distinctive dress in battle and during the victory ceremonies as a sign of his prowess and his social status. Facial tattooing is a special feature of the Atayal. Men wear one or more vertical stripes tattooed on their forehead and chin, while women may wear three or five vertical stripes in the centre of their forehead with between one and three short horizontal stripes to each side of them forming a cross-shaped design, or wear double stripes leading from their ears to the corners of the mouth or upper chin. Many reasons have been advanced to account for this facial tattooing, but its main significance lies in personal adornment, to ward off harm and to enable the wearer to meet his kinsmen after death. It is also a tribal sign, a mark of village identity and a symbol of adult sex-appeal.

　　Atayal settlements are often linked together in tribal groups determined by their history and mutual relations and forming defensive alliances against outsiders. Tribal groups are based on affinal kinship structures, and leadership of such a group is held by the chief of the lineage in charge of the head-hunting rituals, although his powers can often be circumscribed by a council of tribal elders. Such leadership entails political and military control, as distinct from purely ritual authority.

　　The Atayal practise a patrilineal social system, although their ritual groups are often based on larger units than the lineage itself. This wider, extra-lineage relationship is termed qotox gaga, and it can exist on both an intra-village and an inter-village level. Bound together by shared rituals and taboos, each ritual group is headed by a ritual leader who is also a lineage chief.

　　Due to outside environmental factors, the Atayal have developed into a warrior tribe. Their civilisation is derived from the natural world, and they live and work in their own distinctive way and according to their own concepts. In blending their cultural characteristics to match their natural environment, they have become a very unique people.

The Atayal
　　Of all the formosan aborigines the Atayal are distributed the most widely, and are subdivided into two major groupings and four sub-groups which display certain disparities in manners, customs and language. Yet despite slight differences due to terrain and topography, the forms of their domestic buildings always remain basically similar in layout and facilities. Other differences in building materials can be accounted for by differences in vegetation and the environment from place to place. The basic domestic unit is a single-room oblong structure with a door opening either in the long side or in the short side. Sleeping platforms are fitted in all four corners of the room. Between these are two fireplaces with a hanging frame suspended over them.

There are two types of house, depending on environmental factors:-
i) Sunken type:
the interior floor of the house is dug down to a depth of one or two metres, with access by means of a ladder. This type is found in Jen-ai district of Nantou county near Mt. Hohuan and in Nanao district of Ilan county, at altitudes of over 1000 meters where the prevailing temperature is quite low.
ii) Ground-level type:
the interior floor level is slightly higher than the surrounding ground level, or else is the same. This type is found in the majority of villages, although cases exist where the original sunken type of house has been abandoned for this type following a village`s transfer to another site or due to changes in building materials.

　　Most Atayal households occupy simply one such building, although occasionally a storage room is built on at the side. The granary is the main subsidiary building, and is usually sited in front of the house or beside a nearby cultivated plot. In principle each household own one granary, although better-off households may have two or three, and some granaries are shared by two or three related families. The granary is usually oblong in shape, with a floor raised between one and 1.5 meters off the ground and supported by four or six posts. The sides of the granary are enclosed with bamboo or wooden planking, and the underfloor posts are topped by round caps of stone or wood curving downposts are topped by round caps of stone or wood curving downwards which prevent rats climbing up into the storage place.

　　Atayal villages in central and eastern Taiwan have a tall lookout tower built close to the entrance to the village. This is manned day and night to give warning of hostile attack. The lookout tower is supported by some ten tree trunks or bamboo poles between 3.6 meters and 9 meters high, and has a planked platform floor between 1.8 and 3.6 meters square. It can usually hold at least three or four persons, and some towers are fitted with a slate hearth on which a fire may be lit. Access is by a tree trunk or bamboo stem in which steps have been cut, or by a ladder tied with rattan, with a handrail of wood or bamboo fixed up one side.

　　Another feature of Atayal villages is the skull frame, which is sited in front of or near to the house of the village chief. In principle each lineage group (gaga) must have its own skull frame for displaying severed heads taken from enemies, and there may be more than one in a village. Some are constructed of piled up slates, while others are made of bamboos or timbers laid sideways and supported at the ends, and they stand some one to 1.8 meters high and measure between 3.6 and 5.4 meters in length. The heads are arranged from right to left in chronological order, and the older skulls that have bleached completely white may be hung in string bags or baskets from the eaves of granaries or houses. Of course head-hunting used to represent a major threat to public safety, and was outlawed in　Taiwan hundred years ago.