ABSTRACT
The huge Neolithic cemeteries of China, with many grave goods that can be used to examine questions of rank and gender as well as shamanism, have no counterparts in Korea. Obviously, comparisons regarding age, sex, and social rank can be attempted only rarely with Korean data. Human representations are likewise rare in the Korean Neolithic. Some bone figures from northeastern sites in the Korean peninsula, such as Sopohang, may be fetishes or could represent gods or spirits, like the shaved sticks of the Ainu, which indicated sacred space. Around 2000 BCE archaeological evidence suggests new influences in the Korean peninsula. These include several new types of undecorated pottery collectively called Mumun, along with the establishment of rice agriculture and megalithic structures. When the Korean peninsula came into the view of literate China, texts describe the activities and belief systems of the inhabitants of the Korean peninsula.
