Korean History › Prehistory
Jeulmun (comb-pattern pottery) period
c. 8000–1500 BC· Event· Society, economy & people
Mostly agreedGood evidence; some details, dates or numbers uncertain.
Korea's Neolithic era, about 8000–1500 BC, named for pottery decorated with comb-like scratched lines.
See it on the Korean History map →What happened
The period is named for its pottery: jeulmun (즐문), or bitsal-munui (빗살무늬), meaning comb pattern, after the slanting lines scratched into pointed-bottom pots. People lived in round pit houses along coasts and rivers, fishing, collecting shellfish, hunting deer and gathering acorns. Shell mounds such as Dongsam-dong in Busan record their diet. Small-scale millet growing appears around 3500 BC, but full-time farming came later.
Why it matters
Pottery let people store and cook food and stay in one place; Jeulmun villages laid the base for later farming societies.
How we know
Hundreds of excavated sites, pottery sequences, shell middens and radiocarbon dates; charred millet and grinding stones show early cultivation.
Still debated
Whether Jeulmun people were direct ancestors of later Koreans, or were partly replaced by Bronze Age newcomers, is debated.
Inside this (2)
Connections (4)
▸Paleolithic Korea was followed by Jeulmun (comb-pattern pottery) periodMostly agreed
The connection
As the Ice Age ended around 10,000 BC, rising seas flooded the Yellow Sea plain and forests spread. Hunter-gatherers adapted with pottery, polished stone tools and coastal fishing, the toolkit of the Jeulmun Neolithic. Whether the same people changed habits or newcomers arrived is unclear.
When and how
Across the peninsula, roughly 10,000–6000 BC; very early pottery at Gosan-ri on Jeju dates to about 10,000 BC.
How sure are we?
Layered sites show chipped stone tools giving way to pottery; radiocarbon dates and pollen records track the warming climate.
Debates and open questions
Many areas show a gap in sites between the two periods; whether population fell or the sites are simply missing is debated.
▸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.
▸Bangudae Petroglyphs (Ulsan) depict life in Jeulmun (comb-pattern pottery) periodDebated
The connection
If carved in the Neolithic, Bangudae records Jeulmun coastal life: whales spouting, boats with crews and harpoon lines, plus deer and tigers. That fits shell middens in the same region showing Neolithic people hunted and ate whales.
When and how
Ulju County, Ulsan; carvings found in 1971; proposed Neolithic dates run roughly 6000–3500 BC.
How sure are we?
Whale bones with embedded bone harpoon tips from the Neolithic Hwangseong-dong site in Ulsan show whaling then; the carvings themselves cannot be dated directly.
Debates and open questions
Some scholars read the style and overlapping carving layers as Bronze Age instead (see the Mumun link); the panel may span both periods.
▸Jeulmun (comb-pattern pottery) period gave way to Mumun (plain pottery) periodMostly agreed
The connection
Around 1500 BC, plain pottery, rectangular longhouses and more intensive farming of millet and rice replaced comb-pattern ware and the old foraging mix. The shift came with new crops, stone tools and later bronze, probably carried at least partly by migrants from Liaoning and the north.
When and how
Across the peninsula, roughly 1500–1300 BC; the change is clearest in central and southern Korea.
How sure are we?
Site layers and radiocarbon dates show the pottery change; charred rice and new tool types appear alongside plain ware.
Debates and open questions
Migration versus local adoption, how much Jeulmun people contributed to later Koreans, and what languages each group spoke are debated.