신석기시대 한일 문화교류와 흑요석 = Korean-Japanese Exchange Relations in the Neolithic and Obsidian

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This article aims to examine the relationship between the southern coast of Korea and the Kyushu region of Japan, which until now has been approached in terms of general 'exchange relations', by focusing specifically on the issue of trade between the two regions and the distribution of exchanged goods.
Based on the distribution of exchanged goods in both regions, it is presumed that the main body of trade would have been undertaken by fishing communities residing along the coastal areas. Such exchange was observed intensively for the Incipient and Early Neolithic Period in Korea, and continued up until the end of the Neolithic period.
It may be possible that these exchange activities, which continued for a long period of time, were naturally structured by a common subsistence environment in which fishing communities maintained mutual relations of information exchange. Thus, it could have been against this backdrop that primitive trade systems emerged.
In the case of the Kyushu obsidian found in both regions, it may be suggested that it was distributed by a Chulmun pottery group, represented by the Koshidake site, to a key group which had a stronghold on the southern coast of Korea. The obsidian was then distributed by this group to several other groups in the peninsula.
As examples found at the Dongsamdong shell midden and the Youndaedo shell midden indicate, most of the Kyushu obsidian was imported as raw material, which was later used to manufacture specific items that were required by the communities along the southern coast. In return, items characteristic to the southern coast of the Korean peninsula, such as shell bracelets and necklaces, and fishing hooks and fishing tools, were exported to Tsushima and the Kyushu region. In particular, it is suggested that the shell bracelets found in large quantities at the Dongsamdong shell midden may have been a key item that was traded for the Kyushu obsidian.