The Micro-blade Cores, one of the representative artefacts of the Late Paleolithic Period, have been widely found around Northeastern Asia, including the Korean peninsular. It is not therefore surprising that there is a growing interest in Micro-blade...
The Micro-blade Cores, one of the representative artefacts of the Late Paleolithic Period, have been widely found around Northeastern Asia, including the Korean peninsular. It is not therefore surprising that there is a growing interest in Micro-blade Cores together with other lithic assemblages. This paper consists of two main parts: firstly it will review existing studies and researches on the Micro-blade Cores discovered in the Korean peninsular as well as in its surrounding areas. Secondly, it will conduct an analysis of the artefacts which were recently founded in Jeonnam province based on the data from the previous researches. In this paper 22 items in total were analyzed, which were discovered near the Yeongsan River, the Boseong River and the Sumjin River basins.
My analysis focuses on two aspects. the shapes and the characteristics of the artefact. Thus the Micro-blade Cores were classified in following categories: Preform formation, Striking Platform formation and finally detaching Micro-blade. Using this classification system, comparisons were made with other existing artefacts whose analysis had already been carried out. Those objects of comparison were the Micro-blade Cores found in Wolpyeong Site of Jeonnam province and Suyanggae Site of Chungbuk province.
Wolpyeong cores Form Ⅱ turned out to be always thicker than Form Ⅰ. As for length they were either identical or Form Ⅱ was longer than Form Ⅰ. Moreover, Form Ⅱ was longer in proportion to its thickness than Form Ⅰ. The Same type was also found in Suyanggae cores.
The comparison revealed three common facts; first, similar number of the artefacts, cut from materials with both sides flaked and those from materials with one side flaked, were found in both areas respectively; secondly, Form Ⅱ were made by flaking their side first and then flaking their Striking Platform and the long direction flaking method was mainly used to flake Striking Platform. Finally, most of the Micro-blades had the angle of 76∼90 degrees, which shows the makers' efforts to detach almost at right angle.
When it comes to the material used for Micro-blade Cores in those two sites, 91% of Wolpyeong cores were made of volcanic lava while 71% of Suyanggae ones were made of shale. However, both materials have fine grained or glassy texture in common.
The biggest difference in those cores from both sites is found when we observe the shape of the Form Ⅰ. In Wolpyeong Site, form ⅰ was prevalent while in Suyanggae site both form i and form ⅱ were evenly found. This result has a special significance if we consider the fact that Striking Platforms of form Ⅰ-ⅰ of Wolpyeong Site were cut in width direction flaking method while those in Suyanggae Site in long direction flaking method. Through this comparative analysis, I drew a conclusion that Micro-blade Cores in Wolpyeong Site and those in Suyanggae Site have more common characteristics than differences.