An historical overview of the field of study of human remains in South Korean archaeology

Abstract

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to present the current status of research into human remains excavated from archaeological sites in South Korea following its liberation from Japanese colonial rule and to examine the improvements potentially needed to conduct adequate archaeological research on human remains in South Korea in the near future. Human remains, as archaeological data, can provide various types of information, such as the biological characteristics of past groups of people. They also provide direct data that can shed light on many aspects of cultural evolution, and discussions regarding how to properly use data from human remains excavated from archaeological sites in Korea are still in their preliminary stages. Continued developments in science and technology are expected to reveal more information than can currently be obtained from ancient human skeletal remains. To gather information on the cultures of ancient people, which is the ultimate goal of archaeology, there has to be a shared understanding that ancient human skeletal remains must be treated ethically before being viewed simply as potential sources of archaeological data. Further, to increase the value of the collected data, there is a need for a higher degree of interdisciplinary research through mutual collaboration with multiple archaeologists as well as other experts in the fields of anthropology, genetics, and biochemistry.