Scattered in the alluvial sequence in the Bukhan River valley in the Yeongseo region of Gangwon Province, the relics of Yongamri and Cheonjeonri are relatively big compared to other settlement ruins from Bronze Age in the Korean peninsula and very hig...
Scattered in the alluvial sequence in the Bukhan River valley in the Yeongseo region of Gangwon Province, the relics of Yongamri and Cheonjeonri are relatively big compared to other settlement ruins from Bronze Age in the Korean peninsula and very high in the artifact density per unit area. Further the overlapping relations help to investigate the changes to the site by periods and thus represent the Yeongseo region of Gangwon Province.
There were gradual changes to the plane shape and internal structure of the dwelling sites in the Bukhan River valley according to the overlapping relations. The changes and growth seem to have played their parts in the stages. The sites were grouped into three according to the characteristics; Stage I refers to the former term matching the stage of Yeoksamdong type, Stage Ⅱ the transitional period, and Stage Ⅲ the middle term corresponding to the Bukhan River type.
In terms of excavated artifacts, the Bukhan River type succeeded down the cultural tradition of the Yeoksamdong type; the Pure rim-perforated pottery and jar that dominated the former term continued to be in use in the middle term. As for the stone tools, they adopted groove stone adze and Integral stone arrowhead that characterized the middle term. As for the dwelling sites, the (fine) rectangular ones decreased gradually that were popular in the former term, while the small- and middle-sized and square-shaped dwelling sites took over the predecessor. There were also changes to the inside facilities with addition of six- or eight-pillar supporting. The former term, when the Yeoksamdong type prevailed, had a special facility called working space inside the home where there used to be no facilities at all. That inside working space became universal with the establishment of the hardend clay parts of different colors. The storage space inside the home decreased by stages, while they built an independent warehouses outdoors, which meant that there was increase to extra products. The contributing causes of extra products was the transition from the acquirement economy system where the focus was placed on hunting, fishing, and collection to the production economy system where the stable lifestyle based on agriculture was realized. Thus there occurred settlements where ongoing dwelling was possible, which resulted in an overall increase to the size. But the individual dwelling sites grew smaller and smaller, which was attributed to the fragmentation of families and appearance of nuclear family. That resembles the cultural aspects of the Songgukri type, which made the middle term in South Korea.
In conclusion, from an archeological point of view of the dwelling sites in the Bukhan River valley in Bronze Age, they succeeded and developed the cultural traditions of Yeoksamdong type introduced from the Han River areas in the former term. In the middle term, they created their own culture called the Bukhan River type. Other relics of the valley seem to have followed the gradual changes of the relics of Yongamri and Cheonjeonri. It's hard to estimate the exact absolute age of the dwelling sites in the Bukhan River valley since there were no data to use for the estimation. But Stage I should belong to the former term covering B. C. 12~9th century as their elements shared common features with those of Yeoksamdong type in the Han River areas. Stage Ⅱ was assured to be from B. C. 8~7th century based on the C-14 dating, while Stage III was estimated to be located in B. C. 6~5th century. Despite the absence of the data telling about its absolute age, it lied between Stage Ⅱ and the upper limits of the clay vs. earthware stage. Since Stage Ⅱ and Ⅲ almost was the same as the Songgukri stage, they fell under the middle term of Bronze Age. Considering the data obtained so far, the spatial scope of the Bukhan River type appeared to be centered around Chuncheon, the upper stream of Bukhan River, which was west of Taebaek Mountains, covering Hwacheon in north and Gapyeong, the downstream of Bukhan River, in west.
The previous studies on the Yeongseo region of Gangwon Province in Bronze Age were conducted on the assumption that there was no middler term or the former term continued on without no spread from or contacts with the Songgukri culture. But the research results of this study demonstrate that the Bukhan River valley in the Yeongseo region of Gangwon Province succeeded the material culture of the former term of Bronze Age and created its own independent culture in the middle term based on it.