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Rice and Social Differentiation on a Volcanic Island: An Archaeobotanical Investigation of Yerae-dong, Korea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 April 2018

Minkoo Kim ,
Ranyeong Oh ,
Moonbae Bang ,
Jeong-Wook Rha  and
Youjin Jeong
Minkoo Kim
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Chonnam National University, Yongbong-ro 33, Gwangju, Republic of Korea E-mail: [email protected]
Ranyeong Oh
Affiliation:
Gyeongdam Conservation Laboratory C & T Inc., Geumseong-gil 24, Naju, Republic of Korea Email: [email protected]
Moonbae Bang
Affiliation:
Jeju Cultural Heritage Institute, Jeongsil 2 gil 3, Jeju-si, Republic of Korea Email: [email protected]
Jeong-Wook Rha
Affiliation:
Jeju Cultural Heritage Institute, Jeongsil 2 gil 3, Jeju-si, Republic of Korea Email: [email protected]
Youjin Jeong
Affiliation:
Naju National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, Yeongsanpo-ro 263-23, Naju, Republic of Korea Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

This article presents evidence for prehistoric rice cultivation on the island of Jeju (Jejudo), Korea. It also discusses sociopolitical contexts in which the people of this island decided to incorporate rice into their lifeways. Although Jejudo is culturally closely related to the southern region of the Korean peninsula, the nearest landmass to the island, their environmental conditions are radically different. Jejudo is not suitable for intensive rice cultivation. Archaeobotanical research at Yerae-dong nonetheless confirmed that rice was consumed earlier than the emergence of institutionalized social hierarchy on the island. The evidence for status competition and exchange networks contemporaneous with rice remains raises the suggestion that rice was initially incorporated as an exotic and luxurious food, rather than a daily necessity. The earliest rice on Jejudo is unlikely to have been transferred to the island as a result of tributary trade between ancient states. Rather, this study demonstrated that the main agents of rice cultivation were the emergent local elites who attempted to express status and consolidate hierarchy with foreign objects.

Type
Research Article
Information
Cambridge Archaeological Journal , Volume 28 , Issue 3 , August 2018 , pp. 475 - 491
Copyright
Copyright © McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research 2018 

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