Archaeology is thriving in the Republic of Korea, commonly known as South Korea. Thousands of excavations are being conducted and hundreds of voluminous reports are published every year. Remains of the prehistoric inhabitants are found at every corner of the country, and more of them are reported for historical periods. In the absence of a suitable guidebook, this book provides an outline of the archaeological past of Korea.
With plenty of photographs, it summarily discusses its prehistory and presents some of the important discoveries of historical archaeology. Readers may appreciate the delicate and immense problems that archaeologists are facing in interpreting the past as they must deal with rapid urbanization and industrialization on one hand and the legacy of the colonial past and the division of the country on the other.

Lying at the eastern end of the continental Eurasia, archaeological past of Korea is rather poorly known to the outside world. Nevertheless, with the rise of the Republic of Korea, i.e., South Korea, as a newly industrialized nation, archaeology is thriving. Thousands of excavations are being conducted each year, resulting in many surprising discoveries. Remains of the prehistoric inhabitants are found at every corner of the country, and more of them are reported for historical periods. In the absence of a suitable guidebook, this book introduces interested readers to the outline of Korean archaeology. With plenty of photographs, it summarily discusses the prehistory of Korea in general and presents some of the important discoveries from the historical periods. By doing so, it may help readers to understand the unique course of cultural development that had occurred within and beyond the Korean Peninsula which had shaped the modern Koreans and their culture.

Seonbok Yi

Born in Seoul, Korea, Seonbok Yi received BA at the Seoul National University as an archaeology major (1979), and MA (1982) and Ph.D. (1986) at the Arizona State University. Since 1987, he has taught at the Seoul National University. He has worked in Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia and Azerbaijan, and visited many places throughout Asia