Russian-Korean Archaeological Research in the Amur Region in Early 21st Century

Abstract

Purpose. At the beginning of the 21^st century, Russian-Korean archaeological expeditions studied two Neolithic sites (Novopetrovka-III, Gromatukha), settlements from the Early Iron Age to the Early Middle Ages (Ozero Dolgoe), and Early Medieval objects (Troitsky cemetery, Osinovoe Ozero) in the Amur Region. In addition to the excavations, the staff of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography, the Jeju-do Culture and Art Foundation and the State Research Institute for Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Korea worked on the materials and published articles and four monographs. The main purpose of the joint work was to compare the materials of the Initial and Early Neolithic in the Western Amur Region and the Republic of Korea, and those of the time of the Mohe-Bohai colonization on this territory during the Early Middle Ages. Results. It has been established that Novopetrovka III is dated 8610-9240 years ago. On Gromatukha, finds from layer 3 belong to 16260-8010, from layer 2 to 12820-6740, from layer 1, including the dwelling of the Osinoozerskaya culture, to 4080-3680 years ago. The earliest stage of settling terraces on the shore of Lake Dolgoe is marked with artifacts of the Novopetrovskaya culture. The Early Iron Age is associated with the Urilskaya culture; the dwellings belong to the Talakanskaya (no. 31) and Mikhailovskaya cultures (No. 32). The funeral inventory from the graves of the Troitsky cemetery, which was excavated in 2007 and belongs to the last quarter of the 8^th - first half of the 9^th century, was deliberately damaged. Observations on the burned wooden structures in the graves showed that they were burned immediately after they were placed in the graves, but before the bones and belongings were buried. The peculiarity of the material from dwelling 2 (9^th century) at Osinovoe Ozero is the presence of the Troitsky type ceramics, where fragments of easel and pottery utensils had been made on a pottery wheel. A similar combination of ceramic tableware in the dwellings of the Troitskaya group of Mohe was found in the Amur region for the first time. Conclusion. The international Russian-Korean research in the Amur region has led to the intensification of excavation work. It increased the interest of foreign colleagues to the issues of the settlement and ethnocultural history of the population of Eastern Asia in the Early Neolithic and Early Middle Ages in all the regions including the Amur region.