President
"Our nation is a resourceful nation which has a long history and a brilliant cultural tradition. Our nation, living on this land from the dawning of human culture, created its own native culture and contributed to the development of mankind's science and culture."
From the site and relics of Chongphadae Cave which were unearthed in Hwangju County, North Hwanghae Province between May 1999 and October 2004, it is well known that Korean nation has lived in this land and created a unique and independent culture since the dawn of human culture.
The site of Chongphadae Cave in Hwangju County, North Hwanghae Province, covers the middle and late Paleolithic cultural layers. In the past, a lot of researches have been carried out on hominid fossils, stone tools, animal bone fossils, and blastopore fossils found in Paleolithic cultural layers.
In this article, we are going to introduce the skull of ancient Korean known from the 3rd cultural layer(the Neolithic cultural layer) of the site of Chongphadae Cave.
In the 3rd cultural layer were found four pieces of human skulls of four individuals, three pieces of human mandible of three individuals and five pieces of thigh bone.
The skulls of the four individuals were named No.3, No.5, No.8, No.10 according to the order in which they were found, all of which have relatively well-fitting bony suture lines, not being very dense, without severe relief on the surface, and have no extensive facial bones.
Judging from the morphological character of the skulls and the wear degree of the teeth, the 3rd, 4th and 8th skulls are considered to be that of approximately 40-years-old and the 10th skulls to be that of 45-years-old.
The lower jaw bones of three individuals are the lower jaw bones of No. 3, No. 5, and No. 10, of which the lower jaw bone of No. 3 is preserved only in the right part of the jaw and in the part of the jaw, while the lower jaw of No. 5 is preserved in the left jaw and in the part of the jaw, where M1 is preserved.
And the 10th mandible is preserved around the left jaw branch and jaw body with M1 to M3, and the right jaw hole.
The lower jaw bones of three individuals are recognized as those of adult in terms of some characteristics such as their shape, the wear degree of the teeth, and the size of the mandibular angle.
Next, the femur includes 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, 10-4 and 10-5, 10-1 of which are to the right, with the upper end including the bony head and the bone shaft remaining, and the lower end being detached.
The upper bone(anterior and posterior length) was 41.2 mm long and the bone shaft (anterior and posterior length) was 25.8 mm long, corresponding to that of adult. The femur 10-2 is also on the right side, and only the bone shaft is preserved. The shape looks massive with a longitudinal rough line developed on the back of the bone shaft, and the bone shaft (anterior and posterior length) is 28.0 mm long, which appears to be that of adult. The thigh bone 10-3 is on the right, and only the bone shaft is preserved. On the back of the bone, a rough line is developed, and there is a clear trace of the muscles attached to the longitudinal rough line. Bone shaft(anterior and posterior length) was 26.5 mm long, corresponding to that of adult.
The tibia 10-4 is from the right. The upper and lower ends of the bone are removed and only the bone shaft remains in the middle. Rough lines are developed on the upper back of the bone shaft. The median bone (front-to-back length) was 21.0 mm long, corresponding to that of adult. The tibia 10-5 is also on the right, and only the bone remains. It is characteristic of the development of smooth bone blades on the anterior surface of the bone shaft. The mid-body of the bone is 14.5 mm long, which is considered to be that of adult.
The 14C (radioactive carbon) age measured from a sample of animal bones from the 3rd cultural layer at the site of the Chongphadae Cave was 7280±230 years, which confirms that people belong to the ancient type of Korean who lived in the Neolithic period.
The ancient Korean known from the 3rd cultural layer of the Chongphadae Cave serves as a very valuable material data for making clear the origin of Koreans on a scientific basis.
