Late-Occurring Handaxes in Korea: Their Homogeneity and Variability

Modelling the end of the Acheulean at global and continental levels suggests widespread persistence into the Middle Palaeolithic

“…This appears to be due to a series of <100 Kya handaxe sites in South Korea and China. Yet, the inclusion of these assemblages in the Acheulean is controversial, both for their late occurrence and aspects of their form/ production (Norton et al, 2006(Norton et al, , 2009Lycett and Gowlett, 2008;Shipton and Petraglia, 2011;Bae, 2017;Lee, 2017;Dennell, 2018;Li et al, 2018). Thus, while these sites adhere to standard technological definitions (see the section "Defining the Acheulean"), some would contest their inclusion.…”

“…This suggests that, although positioned towards the extreme end of the tradition, handaxe assemblages from Houfang and Danjiangkou in China and Unjeong and Wolso in South Korea (among others) are not outside of the expected chronology for the Acheulean in this region. Future debate on their inclusion within the Acheulean cultural tradition should, therefore, focus on technological and morphological aspects (which includes their marked thickness and reduced elongation [Lee, 2017]).…”

“…n = 5). The five removed sites fit the criteria for inclusion in our models, however, they provide extremely late occurrences of large bifacial technology and some are critical of their inclusion in the Acheulean (Shipton and Petraglia, 2011;Kuman et al, 2014;Lee, 2017;Bae, 2017;Li et al, 2018). The second Asian model therefore helps us understand the extinction of the Acheulean cultural tradition in Asia irrespective of one's perspective on these more recent artefacts.…”

“…Clarity on when and where the Acheulean ended is hampered by a lack of sites younger than 300 thousand years ago (Kya), limited radiometric dating, the publication of minimum-only dates, geographic imbalances in where artefacts are discovered, and debate concerning 'transitional' assemblages. The Korean peninsula, for example, has a series of sites displaying handaxelike implements dating to <100 Kya (Bae, 2017;Lee, 2017). However, because of their recent age (i.e.…”

“…However, because of their recent age (i.e. under 150 Kya) and a lack of understanding concerning the Acheulean of northeast Asia, we do not know whether these occurrences represent technological convergence, a very late, localised continuation of the Acheulean, or part of a broader maintenance of the tradition across east Asia (Bae, 2017;Lee, 2017). Similar arguments can be made concerning other late Acheulean sites in India, the Arabian Peninsula, Western Europe, and sub-saharan Africa (e.g.…”