Abandonment and population fluctuations of prehistoric villages: Focusing on the Geum River Basin during Korea's Bronze Age

Abstract

This study examines population fluctuations in the Geum River basin during the Early and Middle Bronze Age through settlement distributions, changes in the number of settlements and dwellings, and SPDs of radiocarbon dates. Despite broadly shared material culture during the Bronze Age, demographic patterns varied significantly across four subregions—Miho, upper, middle, and lower Geum River—largely influenced by local topography. In the Miho and upper Geum Rivers, limited settlement space constrained population growth. In contrast, the middle Geum River allowed for settlement expansion and in-migration, but this eventually triggered environmental and social stress, leading to abandonment at the end of Early Bronze Age. The resulting dispersal appears to have contributed to population reorganization in the lower Geum River during the Middle Bronze Age. In this period, changes in subsistence strategies and social structure fostered the emergence of large-scale settlements, sustained in part by group ritual practices.