영선동식토기문화의 성립과 전개과정

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine the transition of the Yunggimun-pottery culture to the Yeongseondong-style-pottery culture and the subsequent development of the Yeongseondong-style-pottery culture. This study investigates the changes in subsistence activities through analyse of geographical ranges of the sites, site location and new pottery styles, and discusses them in relation to the changes in pottery tradition. The Yeongseondong-style pottery reflects two different decoration traditions: the pierced/impressed motif and the finely-incised motif. The pierced/impressed motif was decorated on bowls and necked jars, and was different from the decoration of the Yunggimun pottery that preceded it. The finely-incised motif was closely related with the Yunggimun pottery and was decorated on deep bowls. The appearance of the pierced/impressed motif was influenced by the Boisman Neolithic culture, in which oyster collecting was a major subsistence activity. The Pan-East Sea region hosted many fisher-forager groups in prehistory and these groups interacted with each other along the eastern coast of the Korean peninsula. The people of the Yunggimun-pottery culture, which mainly relied on acorn collecting and fishing, was influenced by the migration of the oyster-collecting people into the southern coast. The Yunggimun-pottery culture then adopted a new subsistence economy of fishing and oyster collecting, and gave birth to the Yeongseondong-style-pottery culture. In the southern coast of the Korean peninsula, the tradition of the Yunggimun-pottery culture blended with the Boisman Neolithic culture, which relied on oyster and had an advanced navigation skill, and with the comb-patterned-pottery culture, which relied on millet cultivation and was equipped with grinding technology. The interaction with these cultures gave rise to the two unique cultures in the southern coast: the Yeongseondong-style-pottery culture and the deep-comb-patterned-pottery culture, respectively. In this sense, the transition in the Neolithic culture on the southern coast was initially triggered by external influences. However, the traditional culture of the region successfully adopted the new subsistence economy and then geographically expanded.