Palynological evidence for late Holocene environmental change on the Gimhae fluvial plain, Southern Korean peninsula: Reconstructing the rise and fall of Golden Crown Gaya State

Abstract

This paper presents the results of detailed studies of palynomorphs recovered from two cores collected near the Yeanri burial mound on the Gimhae fluvial plain. Two local pollen zones were recognized on the basis of variations in the palynofloral assemblage: a lower Pollen Zone I, dominated by a Pinus‐Quercus assemblage, and an upper Pollen Zone II, dominated by a Pinus‐Quercus‐Gramineae assemblage. The palynological and molluscan analyses indicate that the depositional environments changed from a lower intertidal flat of a shallow bay environment to an upper intertidal flat in a shallow bay (before 1280 ± 110 14C yr B.P.), and finally to a fluvial plain similar to that of today. This environmental change may have resulted from uplift along the Yangsan Fault. Afterward, the exposed area was modified by human activities, as indicated by a sudden increase in grassland herbaceous pollen grains. The loss of this bay likely had a dramatic effect on the Golden Crown Gaya State (3rd–7th centuries A.D.), which used it as a major port for regional trade, and may explain why it eventually merged with the Shilla State. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Isotopic evidence of dietary variations and weaning practices in the Gaya cemetery at Yeanri, Gimhae, South Korea

“…The site was excavated from 1976 to 1980 by the Korean National Museum and the Busan University Museum (Busan University Museum, 1985, 1993. During these excavations the skeletal remains of 210 individuals within 182 graves were recovered, belonging to Gaya culture of the Three Kingdoms Period (300-600 AD) (Yi and Saito, 2003). The age and sex of each skeleton was estimated by the Busan National University and Kagoshima University Dental School using the Saller (1957) system, andHowells (1973) system (Kim et al, 1985(Kim et al, , 1993.…”

“…This isotopic interpretation of diet is in agreement with the geographical location and environment of the site. Yeanri is situated on a delta region at the estuary of the Nakdong River (Yi and Saito, 2003), and individuals would have had access to terrestrial resources from the local forest and aquatic foods from the river and/or sea.…”

“…This evidence indicates that rice agriculture was more intensive compared to the Mumun period. In addition, the analysis of the distribution of settlement patterns in the Nakdong region shows that the number of settlement sites increased along the coastal river and in swampy alluvial plains, which were suitable for wet-rice cultivation (Rhee and Choi, 1992;Yi and Saito, 2003).…”

Late-Holocene palaeoclimatic change at the Dongnimdong archaeological site, Gwangju, SW Korea

“…Pollen and palaeoclimatic studies on the Holocene sediments in Korea have been carried out in various environments, including continental shelf (Chung et al, 1998;Yi and Yu, 2001;Yi et al, 2004), lake (Chang and Kim, 1982;Fujiki and Yasuda, 2004) and swamp (Choi, 1998;Yi et al, 1999;Yi and Saito, 2003). According to these pollen data, a striking vegetation change from Quercus-Alnus deciduous broadleaved forests to Pinus coniferous forests occurred during the late Holocene.…”

Modern pollen–climate relationships and their application for pollen-based quantitative climate reconstruction of the mid-Holocene on the southern Korean Peninsula

“…Many studies have used various proxies to reconstruct the Holocene paleoclimate of the Korean Peninsula (KP) (Bae et al, 2020; Jo et al, 2011; Lim et al, 2017b, 2019; Song et al, 2018; Yum et al, 2003). In particular, many qualitative studies have been conducted based on pollen records (Chung et al, 2010; Jun et al, 2020; Kim et al, 2020; Lee et al, 2020a; Yi and Saito, 2003; Yoon et al, 2012). However, pollen-based quantitative paleoclimate reconstruction studies of the KP remain rare.…”