• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.154-169
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• 2021

The establishment of the Bronze Age is one of the most important achievements suggested by Korean archaeology shortly after liberation. There is no doubt that Moo-Byung Yoon is the representative figure, who refuted the ambiguous Eneolithic age (金石倂用期) created by Japanese scholars and settled the concept of the Bronze Age. In this article, the author takes a new look at Yoon's institutional role in studying the Bronze Age in Korea. Until now, Yoon's representative achievement has been his typology of the Slender dagger of the Korean Peninsula. However, it is not less important that Yoon also established the Bronze Age concept with the excavation of a dolmen and a Bronze Age subterranean dwelling in Oksok-ni, Paju during the 1960s. Of course, it was not a personal assignment for Yoon. He was aided by Prof. Kim Won-Yong's work, who had introduced newly excavated materials from North Korea and China; these materials gave some insight for establishing the Bronze Age concepts in the 1960 and 1970s. Kim's suggestion about the possibility of a Korean Bronze Age led to Yoon's refined typological study on Korea's bronze wares. However, Yoon's excessive schematic classification of artifacts and reliance on the Japanese chronology became an obstacle for making the Korean Bronze Age isolated from East Asia. As a result, it is regrettable that his research led to the "cultural lag" phenomenon of Bronze Age research. Meanwhile, Japanese archaeology, which had influenced Yoon, also faced a major change. In 2003, the Japanese archaeological community revised the Yayoi culture's beginning around the 1,000 BC. This means a shift in the perception that we should understand Japan's Bronze Age in the context of the East Asian continent. Of course, it is not appropriate to reevaluate or denigrate Yoon's research from the current view. Rather, it is necessary to recognize the limitations of Yoon's time and present a new path to research by combining the archaeological tradition of refining research on the relics he maintained with a new chronological view and a macro view of East Asian archaeology. This is why we should take a new glimpse into Yoon's research.

• 한국문화재보존과학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.137-153
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• 2004

We have analyzed the ingredients of 17 pieces of Bronze Age bronze ware, and an additional 22 pieces of Koryo and Chosun dynasty bronze ware. We have also conducted analysis of the extraction sites where these bronze ware items were found. For analyzing the main ingredient the bronze ware items have been divided into 3 groups - Cu-Sn(70?75:20), Cu-Pb-Sn(70:10:10), Cu-Pb-Sn(60:10:20) type respectively. In tile cases of the Cu-Pb-Sn groups the division comes down to differences in the Cu content as the main component, and elements such as Ni, Fe, Co contribute as a micro ingredient. The geographical and periodic characteristics of ancient bronze ware items show that theircompositional element changes from Cu:Sn to Cu:Pb:Sn and the Cu content decreases with the period,while the Pb content increases with the period. Bronze ware items from Suchon Ri, Gongju (that were used in 3 B.C.) form very different categories from 3rd ${\~}$ 2nd B.C.. They additionally formed very different categories from those bronze ware items analyzed in this research. These bronze ware itemsare shown to be geographically close and periodically overlapped, but made of a new elemental composition. This shows an inflow of a production technical culture present in the new bronze wares. The main component content of Cu is lower, and the Co and Fe contents (as microelements) are much higher than that of other bronze ware items. Such facts showthat those bronze ware items used completely different materials from bronze ware items in other cultural areas, or that there were differences in smelting techniques In the places where ancient bronze ware items have been extracted, it is presumed that the materials originated from the southern parts of Korea andnorthern parts and southern parts of China. .As more bronze ware scientific research is compiled one can conclude that that there will be enough scientific evidence to study the Bronze Age culture of Koreasystematically.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.493-504
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• 2003

The remains of the Bronze Age in Chuncheon region are mostly distributed on the floodplain. The floodplain in this region is made up mainly of natural levee that is high in height and is not flooded with water. The natural levee has very advantageous conditions in agriculture compared with other places. There is a high possibility that people in Chuncheon region during the Bronze Age inhabited on the floodplain and engaged in agriculture. Considering the geomorphic features and soil of natural levee, it is believed that the agriculture centered on dry-field farming was done in this region at that time.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.184-201
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• 2020

After the liberation of Korea from Japanese colonialism, archeology in South and North Korea took different paths. In particular, archeology in South and North Korea began to show great differences from the 1970s, when the former experienced rapid academic advancement following the evacuation of large-scale relics and the latter began to demonstrate a drastically political nature. North Korea declared 'Daedonggang Culture' in the 1990s, and South and North Korean archeology subsequently became so divorced that the two shared almost no common ideas. This kind of discrepancy is now particularly prominent with regard to the Bronze Age and Iron Age around "Gojoseon". Researchers of prehistoric archeology in South Korea have no choice but to keep referring to North Korean archeology. This is because North Korean resources are the main research subjects for identifying "the origin and descent of culture", which is still one of the most important research topics. However, people cast doubt on their reliability. Such a "two-fold viewpoint" demonstrates how those associated with South Korean archeology perceive their counterparts in North Korea. A large part of the visible "gap" between South and North Korea in terms of Bronze Age archeology comes from "political difference" that cannot be resolved by an increase in survey cases or academic debate. However, examining the trend in prehistoric archeology in North Korea is not aimed at criticizing the political nature of North Korean archeology. The goal is to investigate how the North Korean perspective on the Bronze Age differs from that in South Korea at present and to examine the potential problems in explaining "prehistoric culture in the Korean peninsula" and, furthermore, prehistoric culture in Northeast Asia, by including North Korean resources. This paper examines how Bronze Age-related research trends have evolved in North Korea to date and compares them with those seen in South Korean archeology during the same period.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.1 no.1 s.1
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• pp.27-39
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• 1992

Metallurgical studies of the bronze artifacts excavated from Miruksa Temple were performed by chemical analysis and metallographic observation. Alloy systems of the bronze artifacts were classified into two groups of Cu-Sn and Cu-Sn-Pb, according to the items. The contents of impurities such as Sb, As, Ni and Fe in bronze artifacts are within the limiting range of the mod ern standard bronze castings. Chemical compositions of the kitchen utensils such as bronze vessels and dishes in the Unified Silla dynasty, are in the follow ing range, Cu : 74.8-79.4% and Sn : 18.6-21.1%. Chemical composition of the Buddha-image in Koryo dynasty are 820Cu-7.0Sn-10.3Pb, showing increased Pb content and decreased Sn content. The results of chemical analysis suggest that the chemical compositions were good controlled. Any casting defects such as voids and shrinkage holes are not found microscopically, indicating high casting skill. Zinc atoms are not contained in the all bronze artifacts of Miruksa Temple site. This is the common facts founded in the east asian bronze artifacts of Korea, China and Japan. It is comparable with the European bronze of Cu-Sn-Pb-Zn system, after the Middle Age.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.110-125
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• 2011

A number of the Bronze Age dwelling sites have been found and excavated in the Yoodoocheon, Onyangcheon and Baekseokdong basins. Two basins are located near Asan and Onyan in the Chungnam Province of South Korea. Baekseokdong is located in Cheonan, Chungnam. 207 dwelling sites are concentrated around the area of $1.3km^2$ in the Baekseokdong. 177 dwelling sites are sparse and distributed over the area of $1.3km^2$ in the Yongdoocheon and Onyangcheon basins. Most of the Bronze Age dwelling sites in those areas located on the hill. The hills have similar geomorphological environments except for slight differences in geological faces. This study analyzes geomorphological environments of the high-density residential zone of the Bronze Age in the Yoodoocheon and the Onyangcheon basins, and then compares them with the results in Baekseokdong. Study results show that high-density residential zone consists mainly of specific micro-landforms such as the Crest slope, the Crest flat and the Upper side slope, and southeast-facing aspect. A lot of Gentle slope lands were distributed in terms of terrain slope but it is far from specific geomorphological environments. This is not weighted in specific value. Our results show that the geomorphological characteristic derived from this study is major considerations to develop dwelling sites in the Bronze Age. This can be useful to discover the possible dwelling sites over other Chungnam hill regions.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.22-44
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• 2023

The subsistence economics of the early Bronze Age has focused on explaining the intensity of agricultural practices without sufficiently taking into account the diversity of production methods that may arise from cultural types or environmental factors. The problem appears to stem from paying insufficient attention to the question whether we should understand the transition from the Neolithic Age to the Bronze Age as continuous or discrete. This has hitherto blocked an avenue to investigate the gradual changes in subsistence resource production methods. Taking as its premise that changes in the production methods of subsistence resources in the Bronze Age have been continuous and gradual, this paper seeks to restore the production patterns of subsistence resources according to the variety of factors that may have influenced the early Bronze Age production method. With diverse cultural patterns and ecological spaces of the early Bronze Age being confirmed, the work of restoring the production methods of subsistence resources in a specific period is difficult to achieve with one or two stand-alone analyses. A more appropriate method would involve separating a number of different aspects related to the production of subsistence resources, analyzing and interpreting each, and in the final stage, synthesizing the analyses. The specific research method employed in this paper checked for compositional differences in stone production tools, functionally categorized according to a variety of factors that have a close relationship with the production of subsistence resources: cultural-environmental factors and cultural patterns, geographical and topographical factors, soil productivity, and size of settlement. The results of the analysis are as follows: for the early Bronze Age production pattern of subsistence resources in the Seoul and Gyeonggi regions, while no substantive differences were observed with respect to cultural type, geographical and topographical location, the results show statistically significant differences in the composition of production tools according to settlement size and soil productivity. Also, with an increasing ratio of settlement size and total production soil, increases in hunting and armoring tools, woodworking tools, and harvesting tools were observed; on the other hand, when it came to the ratio of fishing tools, the opposite relationship was observed. While a correlation between settlement size or crop cultivation productivity and dependence on hunting or farming was expected, the results of the regression analysis show that settlement size and soil productivity ratios do not have mutually significant relationships. The results thus illustrate that patterns of production differ according to a variety of factors, and no single factor is decisive in the adoption of subsistence resource production methods by a specific settlement. Therefore, the paper emphasizes the need to investigate the production patterns of subsistence resources according to the variety of cultural and environmental factors that make up settlements in early Bronze Age society.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.224-233
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• 2018

Thirty-three Early Iron Age bronzes at the sites of Hoam-dong in Chungju and Cheongsong-ri in Buyeo were investigated in order to study the manufacturing technique and the provenance of lead. Chemical analysis using X-ray fluorescence showed that 33 bronzes consist of copper(Cu), tin(Sn) and lead(Pb) served as major elements. Major and minor elemental analyses by EPMA were performed on two mirrors and 2 weapons of the bronzes investigated. The results shows that bronze mirrors from Chungju and Buyeo were high-tin bronzes(> 30 wt%). And 20% of tin and 5% of lead were founded in bronze weapons. Iron, zinc, arsenic, silver, nickel, sulfur and cobalt detected in four bronzes as minor and trace elements. The four bronzes were alloyed considering their function and were not heat treated after casting due to their high tin content. Lead isotope analysis using TIMS indicates that thirty-three bronzes were distributed southern Korea peninsula except Zone 1. As a result, lead raw materials came from various regions in Korean Peninsula not from Gyeongsang-do regions. The manufacturing techniques of bronze ware generalized at this age, and bronze was produced in various sites using raw materials from various sources.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.606-616
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• 2021

From the collection of the National Kimhae Museum, qualitative analyses using microscopic observation, SEM-EDS, Raman spectroscopy, FT-IR-ATR spectroscopy, and GC-MS were conducted on three burnished red potteries-Jeoksaekmaoyeonwa burnished red pottery (Neolithic age red pottery), Dandomaoyeonwan burnished red pottery(Bronze age red pottery) and Jeoksaekmaoyeongajimun burnished red pottery(Bronze age red pottery)-to investigate the components of the red pigments and the binder. After the layers of the primer were separated from the red surface, crystals of red pigment particles and minerals were found on the red surface. Through SEM-EDS, Raman estimates that the red pigment is Among soil pigments with iron oxide(Fe₂O₃) as the main color development source, Red Ocher(Fe₂O₃). A band characteristic of the Urushiol polymer was detected in the FTIR-ATRspectra(4000~600cm^-1), GC-MS analysis confirmed the presence of the benzenemethanol-2-prophenyl, 4-heptylphenol, 1-tetracecanol, heptafluorobutyric texidecane, all of which are the ingredients of the directional structure of the lacquer present in the red layer. Therefore, it seemed that the three burnished red pottery: Jeoksaekmaoyeonwan pottery(Neolithic age burnished red pottery), Dandomaoyeonwan pottery(bronze age burnished red pottery) and the Jeoksaekmaoyeongajimun pottery(bronze age burnished red pottery) made by mixing minerals and Red Ocher(Fe₂O₃), with lacquer.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.197-201
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• 2017

Shahr-e Sukhteh (meaning burnt city in Persian) in Iran is an archeological site dated back to around 3,200-1,800 BC. It is located in Sistan and Baluchistan Province of Iran and known as the junction of Bronze Age trade routes crossing the Iranian plateau. It was appointed as current study area for paleoparasitological investigations. Excavations at this site have revealed various archeological materials since 1967. In the present study, sheep and carnivore coprolites excavated from this site were analyzed by means of rehydration technique using TSP solution for finding helminth eggs. Dicrocoelium dendriticum, Capillaria sp., and Taenia sp. eggs were identified, while some other objects similar to Anoplocephalidae and Toxocara spp. eggs were also retrieved from the samples but their measured parameters did not match those of these species. The present paper illustrates the first paleoparasitological findings of Bronze Age in eastern Iran supporting the economic activities, peopling, and communication as well as the appropriate condition for zoonotic helminthiasis life cycle in Shahr-e Sukhteh archeological site.