The Early to Late Paleolithic Transition in Korea: A Closer Look

Abstract

ABSTRACT. In Korean Paleolithic archaeology, it is traditionally thought that the Late Paleolithic stone tool industries were in some way derived from the Shuidonggou site in northern China. The latter site has long been considered to be the type site of the eastern Asian Late Paleolithic blade technology. However, recent studies suggest that a number of Korean Late Paleolithic sites probably predate Shuidonggou, some by several thousands of years. Here, we present a series of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates recently analyzed by the AMS laboratory at Seoul National University and discuss further the possibility that the introduction of blade (and later microblade) technologies into Korea may have originated directly from Mongolia, Siberia, and possibly other areas of northeast China, rather than from Shuidonggou.

The eastern Asian ‘Middle Palaeolithic’ revisited: a view from Korea

“…A similar pattern is present for the lithic assemblages from Gigok, Wolso, Dongbaek-ri and Hwadae-ri, but the transition appears a little earlier at around 30 kya. Indeed, at Hwadae-ri, a significant behavioural change occurs marked by the appearance of a new tool type (tanged points) that is produced on fine-grained siliceous shale and dated to older than 30 kya (Bae & Bae 2012; Bae et al 2013; Seong 2015).…”

“…The Korean Palaeolithic record is a suitable case study to be included in this discussion because no major geographic barriers separate the peninsula from the Chinese mainland (Norton 2000; Norton & Jin 2009; Bae & Bae 2012). Furthermore, given the increasing amount of research in Korea over the past several decades (more than 1000 Palaeolithic sites have been identified in South Korea alone) (Norton 2000; Bae & Kim 2010; Bae & Bae 2012; Bae et al 2013), there is a greater accumulation of data available to facilitate behavioural and chronological comparisons with sites and materials across the Old World.

Figure 1. Approximate locations of Palaeolithic sites in southern Korean Peninsula (1: Jeongok-ri; 2: Juwol/Gawol-ri; 3: Jangnamgyo; 4: Yongjeong-ri; 5: Hwadae-ri; 6: Galdun; 7: Seosan-ri; 8: Geodu-ri; 9: Sangjiseok-ri; 10: Hopyeong-dong; 11: Hahwagye-ri; 12: Baegi; 13: Anhyeon-dong; 14: Wolso; 15: Mangsang-dong; 16: Gigok; 17: Yeonyang-ri; 18: Pyeongchang-ri; 19: Dongbackli∙joongli; 20: Gaejeong-ri; 21: Usin-ri; 22: Suheol-ri; 23: Mansu-ri; 24: Nosan-ri; 25: Bonggok; 26: Jeungsan).

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