Niche Construction of Coastal Farming: Archaeobotanical Approach at the Gungokri Site (150 BCE–400 CE)

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Social and Environmental Interactions on Coasts and Islands in Korea" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper examines niche construction and traditional ecological knowledge that was sustained over 550 years along the southern coast in Korea with an example from the Gungokri site. Traditional subsistence method along the coast and islands in Korea was based on a combination of farming and fishery, and we found this resilient strategy extended into the dawn of historical period from 150 BC to AD 400. Our data comes from plant remains from floated sediments and starch granules extracted from vessels recovered from Gungokri. Our research suggests that Gungokri residents practiced a rotation of crops in wetland and upland farming to reduce soil nutrition loss from seawater and soil erosion. At the same time, they actively harvested wild plants from forest edges and wetlands as well as fishing, shellfish gathering, and hunting. Niche construction and cultural inheritance of complex subsistence based on seasonally variable resources likely increased resilience and flexibility in the coastal adaptation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Social and Environmental Interactions on Coasts and Islands in Korea   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37071.0