A discovery on the riverbank
In 1964, a research team led by Professor Son Bok-gi was surveying the banks of the Geum River when they made a discovery that would rewrite Korean prehistory. They uncovered stone tools that confirmed, for the first time, a Paleolithic presence on the Korean Peninsula. This location, the Seokjangni site, yielded bifacially flaked handaxes, a hallmark of Acheulean technology. This stone tool industry was previously associated with early humans in Africa, Europe, and Western Asia. The discovery established the foundation for Paleolithic archaeology in South Korea.
The handaxes found in the lowest strata are typically pear-shaped or oval, worked symmetrically on both sides to create a continuous cutting edge. This technology is strongly associated with Homo erectus. The presence of these specific tools at Seokjangni directly challenged a long-standing archaeological theory known as the Movius Line. Proposed by Harvard archaeologist Hallam Movius in 1948, this line divided the Old World into a western zone with sophisticated handaxes and an eastern zone, including East Asia, supposedly characterized by simpler chopper tools. The Seokjangni handaxes provided clear evidence that early hominins in East Asia also possessed this advanced tool-making knowledge.
Layers of deep time
The Seokjangni site is more than a single moment in time but a deep chronicle of human occupation. Excavations, conducted over a decade from 1964 to 1974, revealed a complex stratigraphy with at least thirteen distinct cultural layers. These layers span the entire Paleolithic period, from the Early to the Late Paleolithic.
The deepest and oldest layers contain the Acheulean handaxes, along with other Early Paleolithic tools like polyhedrons and large scrapers. Above these, archaeologists found tools characteristic of the Middle and Late Paleolithic periods. The upper strata have yielded end-scrapers, burins, and small blades, showing an evolution in stone tool technology over millennia. In one of the Late Paleolithic layers, excavators uncovered the remains of three dwellings and hearths. Charcoal from one of these house sites was dated to approximately 25,000 to 30,000 years ago. This continuous record of occupation makes Seokjangni an exceptional location for studying the long-term development of human culture on the Korean Peninsula.