Final Pleistocene and early Holocene population dynamics and the emergence of pottery on the Korean Peninsula

Abstract

The final Pleistocene and early Holocene witnessed the emergence of the earliest pottery in East Asia. Despite extensive archaeological research conducted in Korea over the last three decades, the lack of comparable pottery evidence from the early postglacial, let alone the terminal Pleistocene, on the Korean Peninsula remains an archaeological enigma. Rather than anticipating future discoveries, we feel that it is time to explain why early pottery does not appear on the Korean Peninsula and attempt to provide a workable hypothesis focusing on the spatio-temporal dynamics of mobile hunter-gatherer-fisher populations during periods of substantial environmental change. Summed probability distribution and kernel density estimation of radiocarbon dates clearly indicate significant population fluctuations: occupation density increased under cold and dry Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) conditions and declined during warmer post-LGM and postglacial periods. We argue that a significant decline in population is the main reason why Pleistocene and postglacial pottery does not appear in Korea. On the other hand, the establishment of a Neolithic pottery tradition along Korea's coasts were likely associated with the 8.2 ka cooling event.