Possible linkage between Paleolithic site occurrence and past climate change in the central Korean Peninsula

Abstract

Korea's Paleolithic sites are primarily located in riverine environments and the margins of alluvial fans. More than 100 Paleolithic excavations have been conducted in the Korean Peninsula, but the relationship between the locations of these sites and past climate change has received little attention. In this study, we investigated this relationship at a Paleolithic site in Wonju city, Korea, that contained two cultural layers and yielded a total of 336 stone artifacts. The lithological units present at the site indicate that the sedimentary environment changed from a riverine sandy channel to an alluvial plain owing to channel migration at the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4. The alluvial plain sediments deposited during MIS 4–2 are characterized by low sand content (<5%) and two soil wedges. Most Paleolithic artifacts were excavated from the upper soil wedge, deposited during MIS 3 under relatively warm and wet conditions associated with global climatic changes (as indicated by sea level or continental ice volume) and the East Asian summer monsoon. The number of Paleolithic cultural layers increases in late MIS 3 in other regions, suggesting that climate conditions are an essential factor in the development of Paleolithic cultural layers.