Korean History › Prehistory › Jeulmun (comb-pattern pottery) period
Amsa-dong Neolithic village (Seoul)
c. 5000–3000 BC· Book, artwork, monument or document· Society, economy & people
Mostly agreedGood evidence; some details, dates or numbers uncertain.
A Neolithic riverside village of pit houses on the Han River, in what is now eastern Seoul.
See it on the Korean History map →What happened
A 1925 flood exposed pottery shards on the Han River bank at Amsa-dong (암사동), in today's Gangdong-gu, Seoul. Excavations from the late 1960s uncovered dozens of round and squarish pit houses, each with a central hearth, plus comb-pattern pots, stone axes and hoes, arrowheads and net sinkers. Residents fished, hunted and gathered acorns, and may have grown some millet. The site is now a park with reconstructed huts and a museum.
Why it matters
It is the best-known Jeulmun village, showing that settled life on the Han River, Seoul's lifeline, began about 7,000 years ago.
Think of it like
Seoul's first riverfront neighborhood: dozens of homes, each with its own hearth, clustered along the water.
How we know
Repeated excavations from the late 1960s onward by the National Museum of Korea and others; radiocarbon dates of roughly 5000–3000 BC.
Still debated
Whether residents farmed at all, and whether the village was lived in year-round or seasonally, is still discussed.
Connections (2)
▸Amsa-dong Neolithic village (Seoul) was a settlement of Jeulmun (comb-pattern pottery) periodWell documented
The connection
Amsa-dong is a textbook Jeulmun village. Its pit houses, comb-pattern pots, net sinkers and acorn-grinding stones show how Neolithic people settled along rivers to fish and gather instead of moving constantly. It anchors the period's typical lifestyle in one well-excavated site.
When and how
Han River bank, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, about 5000–3000 BC; excavated from the late 1960s.
How we know
Comb-pattern pottery and radiocarbon dates from house floors place it squarely in the Jeulmun period.
Debates and open questions
How long each house was used, and whether the village was occupied year-round or by season, is not fully settled.
▸Amsa-dong Neolithic village (Seoul) foreshadowed the farming villages of Mumun (plain pottery) periodMostly agreed
The connection
Amsa-dong's permanent riverside houses, storage pits, stone hoes and grinding stones previewed the settled villages that became full farming communities in the Mumun period. Mumun villages were larger, with longhouses, fields and rice, but the habit of settling by rivers came first.
When and how
Han River basin, Seoul region: Amsa-dong about 5000–3000 BC; Mumun villages from about 1500 BC.
How sure are we?
Comparison of house types and tools across excavated sites; the link is a broad trend, not a direct line of descent.
Debates and open questions
Whether Amsa-dong's people actually farmed, beyond gathering wild plants, is debated.