Abstract
We review the prehistory of maritime activities in Korea and regional interaction across the seas that surround the Korean Peninsula from the final Pleistocene through the 1C (century) BCE (before the current era). While there is little evidence for maritime adaptations during the late Pleistocene the sourcing of obsidian has revealed that some originated from the island of Kyushu. This strongly suggests that interaction with Japan across the Korea Strait existed at that time. Substantial maritime activity began around 6.2 ka BCE (Chulmun Period: 6.2–1.4 ka BCE) along the east/south coast, probably as a response to the 8.2 ka cooling event. Faunal analyses of shell middens indicate that maritime adaptation was associated with a broad-spectrum economy that involved the fishing of deep-sea species. Stylistic analyses of pottery and sourcing of obsidians suggests that interaction with Japan was intense. Remains of boats and a paddle recovered from Bibongri indicates watercraft were used for maritime activity and interaction. As the Korean Peninsula witnessed the transition to an agricultural economy around 1.4 ka BCE (Mumun Period), dependence on sea resources decreased. However, as social complexity grew, elite interactions with China and Japan across the sea became more intense. This is evidenced by the discovery of Liaoning-style bronze goods in Korea and Korean-style bronze daggers in Japan. Archaeological evidence also demonstrates that Mumun farmers from Korea engaged in a large-scale migration to Kyushu and this triggered the development of wet-rice farming in Japan. By 2-1C BCE, exchange networks became systemized and super-regional in organization. Some nearshore islands were used as trade ports and southeast Asian glass beads were exchanged.
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Change history
09 September 2022
The original version of the book was inadvertently published with the following corrections, which have now been updated.
[1]. Book sub title have been inserted as “With a Foreword by Dr. William W. Fitzhugh”.
[2]. Foreword information inserted in the Book Back Cover Text.
[3]. Chapter “Tracking the Adoption of Early Pottery Traditions into Maritime Northeast Asia: Emerging Insights and New Questions” co-authors names are corrected as in below: From “Viktor M. Diakonov”to “Viktor M. Dyakonov” From “Elena A. Solovyova” to “Elena N. Solovyova”
[4]. Author Viktor M. Dyakonov’s acknowledgement inserted. The book has been updated with the changes.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Jim Cassidy and Ben Fitzhugh for the opportunity to contribute this chapter to the volume and invaluable comments. We also thank Donghee Chong for his effort in making Figs. 1 and 3, and Ha-woo Rhee and Gimhae National Museum of Korea for kindly providing pictures for Figs. 2, 4 and 5. Kim’s work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2019S1A5A2A03043510).
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Kim, J., Seong, C. (2022). Maritime Prehistory of Korea: An Archaeological Review. In: Cassidy, J., Ponkratova, I., Fitzhugh, B. (eds) Maritime Prehistory of Northeast Asia. The Archaeology of Asia-Pacific Navigation, vol 6. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1118-7_2
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