반구대 암각화 편년에 대한 비판적 검토

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to reexamine the chronology of the Bangudae petroglyphs established in 1980 and generate a new chronology. This paper argued that the chronology of the rock art should be dated to the ‘Neolithic.’ According to the old chronology of the Bangudae rock art formulated in 1980, the date ranges between the Korean Bronze and Early Iron Ages (BC 300-100 AD). This chronology is still playing a critical role in Korean archaeological and historical societies and supported by a number of rock art researchers.
 In particular, since the Korean National History text books are adopting the old chronology, almost all the Korean students have been significantly influenced by it. In the mean time, various material evidence discovered at different archaeological sites suggests that the rock art may have been engraved much earlier than ‘the Bronze and Early Iron Ages.’ Based on newly collected materials, many researchers have been arguing that the rock art may have been manufactured during the Korean Neolithic (ca. 4000-3000 BC).
 This paper pointed out some problems that the old chronology has and focused on a few variables and archaeological context necessary to formulate a new chronology of the Bangudae petroglyphs. This paper emphasized the importance of the interpretation and appropriate archaeological explanation of the motifs in which we are interested. To testify the new date of the rock art, ecofact and artifacts such as whale bone, whaling gears, oceangoing vessels and oars, obsidian discovered in Ulsan and southeastern part of Korean peninsula were examined in conjunction with archaeological context. This paper focused on the subsistence patterns and frequency of shell midden of both the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, hunting-fishing and stone tools related to agricultural practices.