Draft Prehistory
| Title | Prehistory (500,000 - 300 BCE) |
|---|---|
| Author | Lyndsey Twining |
| Place | Korean peninsula |
| Concept | dolmen (northern style, southern style), semi-subterranean pit houses, above-ground wooden houses, ondol (underfloor heating system), raised design pottery, comb-pattern pottery, undecorated pottery, slender daggers, mandolin-shaped daggers |
| Object | UNESCO World Heritage - Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites |
Humans occupied the Korean peninsula from as early as 500,000 years ago. Paleolithic archaeological sites, with human bones and artifacts, give some clues as to the type of early stone tools and their development over time, while sites from the neolithic period (dating from 6,000 BCE) contain pottery, chipped and ground stone tools, and consist of semi-subterranean houses grouped into small villages[1]. Sites on the east coast contained pottery with raised designs, while slightly later sites on the west coast contained comb-pattern pottery. These pottery styles spread prolifically across the peninsula from approximately 8,000-1,500 BCE. This period was a time of hunting, fishing, and small-scale plant cultivation.
The emergence of undecorated pottery is considered a marker for the next developmental period, which lasted from approximately 1,500 - 300 BCE. It was during this period that agriculture, rice cultivation in particular, developed. Settlements moved from riverbanks to hillsides to make better use of the flat land by the rivers for farming. Burial practices during this period became more advanced, with megalithic dolmens marking burial sites. Korean dolmens make up over 70 percent of the world's dolmens and some have been registered as UNESCO World Heritages. Use of bronze began during this period, appearing in the form of slender daggers found only on the Korean peninsula and mandolin-shaped daggers which made their way from northwest China all the way to southwest Korea, indicative of widespread trade. However, bronze items were uncommon and reserved for the elite, usually utilized for weapons and ornaments.
Iron is believed to have begun being produced in the 3rd century BCE. It was widely used for agriculture, weapons, and armor and may have contributed to wood-working tools which gave rise to above-ground wooden houses. Primitive forms of ondol, the native Korean underfloor heating system, were used in advanced pit-houses[2] during this period.
Glossary
- Concepts
- dolmen
- northern style
- southern style
- semi-subterranean pit houses
- above-ground wooden houses
- ondol (underfloor heating system)
- raised design pottery
- comb-pattern pottery
- undecorated pottery
- slender daggers
- mandolin-shaped daggers
- dolmen
- Places
- Korean peninsula
- Objects
- UNESCO World Heritage - Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites
Further Reading
Items for Review
- dates for each time period
- humans living on the peninsula
- paleolithic
- neolithic
- raised design pottery
- comb-pattern pottery
- undecorated pottery
- use of bronze
- use of iron
Media Content to Be Produced
- locations of pottery sites
- movement of pottery style over time
- emergence of ondol heating
- location of dolmens by type
