Subsistence change at Konam-ri: Implications for the advent of rice agriculture in Korea

Authors
Citation
Cj. Norton, Subsistence change at Konam-ri: Implications for the advent of rice agriculture in Korea, J ANTHR RES, 56(3), 2000, pp. 325-348
Citations number
77
Language
INGLESE
art.tipo
Article
Categorie Soggetti
Sociology & Antropology
Journal title
JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH
ISSN journal
0091-7710 → ACNP
Volume
56
Issue
3
Year of publication
2000
Pages
325 - 348
Database
ISI
SICI code
0091-7710(200023)56:3<325:SCAKIF>2.0.ZU;2-X
Abstract
Attempts at reconstructing subsistence strategies in prehistoric Korea, par ticularly during the Neolithic and Bronze Age, are few. Research directed t owards explaining change in subsistence patterns in this part of East Asia are even fewer. This article addresses the latter question through analysis of vertebrate faunal remains from Konam-ri, a Neolithic/Bronze Age shell m idden site located off the central west coast of Korea. Significant distinc tions in subsistence strategies are evident between the Neolithic and Bronz e Age deposits at Konam-ri: Neolithic Koreans relied heavily on wild game a nd fish resources, but by the advent of the Bronze Age, subsistence shifted towards a heavier dependence on agricultural products, particularly rice a nd millet. It is argued here that increasing population pressure during the Neolithic may have been the causal factor leading to intensified procureme nt of the Konam-ri inhabitants; primary resource: fish. This dependence on previously secondary and tertiary resources (i.e., rice and millet agricult ure). This evidence may have further implications for other regions of Kore a.