Jeulmun pottery period
4049968
208299379
2008-04-26T11:13:13Z
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{{Infobox Korean name|
hangul=즐문 토기 시대|
hanja=櫛文土器時代|
rr=Jeulmun togi sidae|
mr=Chŭlmun t'ogi sidae|
}}
{{History of Korea}}
[[Image:Jeulmunmap.png|200px|thumb|Map of Jeulmun Period archaeological sites mentioned in this text from southern Korea.]]
The '''Jeulmun Pottery Period''' is an archaeological era in [[Prehistoric Korea|Korean prehistory]] that dates to approximately 8000-1500 B.C. <ref>Bale, Martin T. 2001. Archaeology of Early Agriculture in Korea: An Update on Recent Developments. ''Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association'' 21(5):77-84. </ref><ref>Choe, C.P. and Martin T. Bale 2002. Current Perspectives on Settlement, Subsistence, and Cultivation in Prehistoric Korea. ''Arctic Anthropology'' 39(1-2):95-121.</ref><ref>Crawford, Gary W. and Gyoung-Ah Lee 2003. Agricultural Origins in the Korean Peninsula. ''Antiquity'' 77(295):87-95. </ref><ref>Lee, June-Jeong 2001. From Shellfish Gathering to Agriculture in Prehistoric Korea: The Chulmun to Mumun Transition. PhD dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison. Proquest, Ann Arbor.</ref><ref>Lee, June-Jeong 2006. From Fisher-Hunter to Farmer: Changing Socioeconomy during the Chulmun Period in Southeastern Korea, In ''Beyond "Affluent Foragers": The Development of Fisher-Hunter Societies in Temperate Regions'', eds. by Grier, Kim, and Uchiyama, Oxbow Books, Oxford.</ref>. It is named after the decorated [[pottery]] vessels that form a large part of the pottery assemblage consistently over the above period, especially 4000-2000 B.C. ''Jeulmun'' ([[Hangul]]: 즐문, [[Hanja]]: 櫛文) means "Comb-patterned". A boom in the archaeological excavations of Jeulmun Period sites since the mid-1990s has increased knowledge about this important formative period in the prehistory of [[East Asia]].
The Jeulmun is significant for the origins of plant cultivation and sedentary societies in the [[Korean peninsula]] <ref>Bale 2001</ref><ref>Choe and Bale 2002</ref><ref>Crawford and Lee 2003</ref>. This period has sometimes been labelled as the "Korean [[Neolithic]]", but since intensive agriculture and evidence of European-style 'Neolithic' lifestyle is sparse at best, such terminology is misleading<ref>Lee 2001</ref>.
The Jeulmun was a period of hunting, gathering, and small-scale cultivation of plants <ref>Lee 2001, 2006</ref>. Archaeologists sometimes refer to this life-style pattern as 'broad-spectrum [[hunter-gatherer|hunting-and-gathering]]'.
==Incipient Jeulmun==
The origins of the Jeulmun are not well-known, but raised-clay pattern ''Yunggimun'' pottery ([[Hangul]]: 융기문토기; [[Hanja]]: 隆起文土器) appear at southern sites such as Gosan-ni in [[Jeju-do]] Island and Ubong-ni on the seacoast in [[Ulsan]]. Some archaeologists describe this range of time as the "Incipient Jeulmun period" and suggest that the Gosan-ni pottery dates to 10,000 BP <ref>Choe and Bale 2002</ref><ref>Im, Hyo-jae 1995. The New Archaeological Data Concerned with the Cultural Relationship between Korea and Japan in the Neolithic Age. ''Korea Journal'' 35 (3):31-40.</ref>. Samples of the pottery were radiocarbon dated, and although one result is consistent with the argument that pottery emerged at very early date (i.e. 10,180±65 BP [AA-38105]), other dates are somewhat later <ref>Kuzmin, Yaroslav V. 2006. Chronology of the Earliest Pottery in East Asia: Progress and Pitfalls. ''Antiquity'' 80:362–371.</ref>. If the earlier dating holds true, Yunggimun pottery from Gosan-ni would be, along with [[Southern China]], the [[Japanese Archipelago]], and the [[Russian Far East]], among a group of the oldest known [[pottery]] in world [[prehistory]]. Kuzmin suggests that more [[absolute dating]] is needed to gain a better perspective on this notion <ref>Kuzmin 2006:368</ref>.
==Early Jeulmun==
The Early Jeulmun period (c. 6000-3500 B.C.) is characterized by deep-sea fishing, hunting, and small semi-permanent settlements with pit-houses. Examples of Early Jeulmun settlements include Seopohang, [[Amsa-dong]], and Osan-ri <ref>Im, Hyo-jae 2000. ''Hanguk Sinseokgi Munhwa'' [Neolithic Culture in Korea]. Jibmundang, Seoul.</ref>. Radiocarbon evidence from coastal shellmidden sites such as [[Ulsan]] Sejuk-ri, [[Dongsam-dong Shell Midden|Dongsam-dong]], and Ga-do Island indicates that shellfish were exploited, but many archaeologists maintain that shellmiddens (or [[shellmound]] sites) did not appear until the latter Early Jeulmun <ref>Lee 2001</ref>.
==Middle Jeulmun==
[[Image:Korea-Neolithic.age-Pot-01.jpg|thumb|left|Classic Jeulmun vessel with wide mouth, c. 3500 BC. From [[National Museum of Korea]].]]
[[Image:KoreanEarthenwareJar4000BCEAmsa-DongNearSeoul.jpg|thumb|left|Korean earthenware vessel in the classic ''Jeulmun'' comb-pattern style. Various patterns cover the majority of the vessel surface. Ca. 4000 BC, [[Amsa-dong]], [[Seoul]]. [[British Museum]].]]
Choe and Bale estimate that at least 14 Middle Jeulmun period (c. 3500-2000 B.C.) sites have yielded evidence of cultivation in the form of carbonized plant remains and agricultural stone tools <ref>Choe and Bale 2002:110</ref>. For example, Crawford and Lee, using [[Mass spectrometry|AMS]] dating techniques, directly dated a domesticated [[foxtail millet]] (''Setaria italica'' ssp. ''italica'') seed from the Dongsam-dong Shellmidden site to the Middle Jeulmun <ref>Crawford and Lee 2003:89</ref>. Another example of Middle Jeulmun cultivation is found at Jitam-ri (Chitam-ni) in [[North Korea]]. A pit-house at Jitam-ri yielded several hundred grams of some carbonized cultigen that North Korean archaeologists state is [[millet]] <ref>To, Yu-ho and Ki-dok Hwang 1961.''Chitam-ni Wonshi Yuchok Palgul Pogo'' [Excavation Report of the Chitam-ni Prehistoric Site]. Kwahakwon Ch'ulpan'sa, Pyeongyang.</ref><ref>see also Im 2000:149</ref>. However, not all archaeologists accept the grains as [[domesticated]] millet because it was gathered out of context in an unsystematic way, only black-and-white photos of the find exist, and the original description is in [[Korean language|Korean]] only.
Cultivation was likely a supplement to a subsistence regime that continued to heavily emphasize deep-sea fishing, shellfish gathering, and hunting. "Classic Jeulmun" or ''Bitsalmunui'' pottery ([[Hangul]]: 빗살무늬토기) in which comb-patterning, cord-wrapping, and other decorations extend across the entire outer surface of the vessel, appeared at the end of the Early Jeulmun and is found in West-central and South-coastal Korea in the Middle Jeulmun.
==Late Jeulmun==
The subsistence pattern of the Late Jeulmun period (c. 2000-1500 B.C.) is associated with a de-emphasis on exploitation of shellfish, and the settlement pattern registered the appearance of interior settlements such as Sangchon-ri (see [[Daepyeong]]) and Imbul-ri. Lee suggests that environmental stress on shellfish populations and the movement of people into the interior prompted groups to become more reliant on cultivated plants in their diets <ref>Lee 2001:323; 2006</ref>. The subsistence system of the interior settlements was probably not unlike that of the incipient Early [[Mumun pottery period]] (c. 1500-1250 B.C.), when small-scale [[shifting cultivation]] ("slash-and-burn") was practiced in addition to a variety of other subsistence strategies. The Late Jeulmun is roughly contemporaneous with [[Lower Xiajiadian culture]] in [[Liaoning]], [[China]]. Archaeologists have suggested that [[Bangudae Petroglyphs|Bangudae]] and Cheonjeon-ri, a substantial group of petroglyph panels in Ulsan, may date to this sub-period, but this is the subject of some debate.
Kim Jangsuk suggests that the hunter-gatherer-cultivators of the Late Jeulmun were gradually displaced from their "resource patches" by a new group with superior slash-and-burn cultivation technology and who migrated south with ''Mumun'' or undecorated (Hangeul: 무문토기; Hanja: 無文土器) pottery <ref>Kim, Jangsuk 2003. Land-use Conflict and the Rate of Transition to Agricultural Economy: A Comparative Study of Southern Scandinavia and Central-western Korea. ''Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory'' 10(3):277-321.</ref>. Kim explains that the pattern of land use practiced by the Mumun pottery users, the dividing up of land into sets of slash-and-burn fields, eventually encroached on and cut off parts of hunting grounds used by Jeulmun pottery users.
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
==Further reading==
*Nelson, Sarah M. 1993 ''The Archaeology of Korea''. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
==See also==
*[[Prehistory of Korea]]
*[[List of archaeological periods]] - parent page
*[[List of Korea-related topics]]
*[[Pit-Comb Ware culture]]
*[[Neolithic age]]
*[[Jōmon period]]
[[Category:Archaeological cultures]]
[[Category:Early Korean history]]
[[Category:Archaeology of Korea]]
[[Category:Asian archaeology]]
[[Category:Prehistory]]
[[id:Zaman Tembikar Jeulmun]]