Korea - Archaeology News

1,700-year-old Korean genomes show genetic heterogeneity in Three Kingdoms period Gaya

June 21, 2022

An international team led by The University of Vienna and the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in collaboration with the National Museum of Korea has successfully sequenced and studied the whole genome of eight 1,700-year-old individuals dated to the Three Kingdoms period of Korea (approx. 57 BC-668 AD). The first published genomes from…

Archaeology, Asia, Forensics, Genetics, Korea, South East Asia

Interdisciplinary research shows the spread of Transeurasian languages was due to agriculture

November 10, 2021

The origin and early dispersal of Transeurasian languages, including, among others, Japanese, Korean, Tungusic, Mongolic and Turkic, is among the most disputed issues of Asian prehistory. Although many of the commonalities between these languages are due to borrowing, recent studies have shown a reliable core of evidence supporting the classification of Transeurasian as a genealogical…

Archaeology, Asia, China, Eurasia, Genetics, Japan, Korea, Linguistics, Mongolia

More evidence unearthed of Silla-era human sacrifice

September 7, 2021

An archaeological dig by the Cultural Heritage Administration has found more human remains under the west walls of Wolseong in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, adding to evidence that human sacrifice was practiced in the Silla Kingdom. Adult female skeleton and earthenware pot found under west walls of Wolseong [Credit: Gyeongju National Research Institute…

Archaeology, Asia, Korea, South East Asia

Ancient history sheds new light on connection between weather and war

April 12, 2021

Data extracted from the oldest surviving document recording Korean history shows a strong correlation between extreme weather events and war. Goguryeo armour mural, lifetime 37 BCE-668 CE [Credit: Public Domain] The research, which was recently published as a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows the three states that ruled over…

Archaeology, Asia, East Asia, Korea

Perfectly preserved dinosaur skin found in Korea

April 9, 2019

Paleontologists are used to finding dinosaur bones and tracks. But remnants of soft tissue, like muscles or skin, are rare and often not well preserved. A very small percentage of tracks – much less than 1% – show skin traces. Credit: University of Colorado Denver Kyung-Soo Kim, Ph.D., of Chinju National University of Education recently…

Dinosaurs, Fossils, Korea, Palaeontology

Ancient DNA reveals genetic ‘continuity’ between Stone Age, modern populations in East Asia

February 1, 2017

In contrast to Western Europeans, new research finds contemporary East Asians are genetically much closer to the ancient hunter-gatherers that lived in the same region eight thousand years previously. View from the interior of Devil’s Gate: the cave in the Primorye region, about 30km from the far eastern coast of Russia, where the human remains…

Anthropology, China, East Asia, Genetics, Korea, Russia