Asia for Educators

4000 to 1000 BCE: Early Civilizations and the Emergence of Pastoral Peoples

Neolithic China ca. 10,000 to 2,000 BCE

Xia, Shang, Zhou ca. 2,100 to 771 BCE

Neolithic Japan, Jomon ca. 10,500 to 300 BCE

Neolithic Korea ca. 7,000 to 900 BCE

Neolithic Southeast Asia ca. 7,000 to 1,500 BCE

Bronze Age ca. 1,500 to 500 CE

Neolithic South Asia ca. 9,000 to 1,000 BCE Indus Valley/Harappan ca. 2,600 to 800 BCE

China

Japan

Korea

Vietnam & SE Asia

South Asia

KOREA 4000-1000 BCE

Neolithic Period | Origin Myths

KOREA: HISTORY-ARCHAEOLOGY

Neolithic Period

ca. 7,000 to ca. 900 BCE
• Korea, 8,000-2,000 B.C. [Timeline of Art History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art]
"Humans have inhabited the Korean peninsula from as early as the Pleistocene era, about 500,000 B.C. By the Neolithic period, beginning in about 7000 B.C., small settlements of hunters, fishers, and foragers are established near rivers or coastal areas." With a period overview and list of key events.

• Neolithic and Bronze Age Korea [The Art of Asia, Minneapolis Institute of Arts]
"Archaeologists believe the Koreans descended from the nomadic Mongolian tribes that lived in North and Central Asia." A brief one-paragraph overview, along with an image of one object representative of the period.

• Neolithic Pottery: Comb-pattern (Chŭlmun) Vessel [PDF] [Arts of Korea, The Metropolitan Museum of Art]
Example of a neolithic earthenware vessel with incised comb-pattern (chŭlmun) decoration, ca. 4000-3000 BCE, is found in this document for teachers.

RELIGION, PHILOSOPHY, THOUGHT

Origin Myths

• Korean Thought [Asia Society]
Background reading about "[a] Korean origin myth described in [the] context of Korean society and as a comparison to Western thought."

Primary Source w/DBQs • Iryŏn's Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms (Samguk yusa): The Tangun Legend [PDF] [Asia for Educators]

Related Timelines from Other Websites

| Index of Topics for All Time Periods |