Under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey Parsons, Mr. Kim Seung-Og will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will analyze an extensive data set collected over 5 seasons of excavation at the site of Taegok-ri which is located in the Bosung river basin in southwestern Korea. Situated on an alluvial plain the settlement occupies an area of about 12,000 square meters. Excavation produced approximately 150 houses and many functionally specific structures including storage buildings and kilns. According to the preliminary site reports its occupation extends from ca. 500 B.C. to 300 A.D. About 108 well-preserved megalithic dolmens have also been found in this region and appear associated with the site. Each contains up to 20 human burials, many with associated artifacts. Mr. Seung-Og will analyze both the burial and settlement remains. He will focus on pottery which, in conjunction with absolute dating will provide a sensitive chronological indicator. He will then study the organization of the settlement and the relationship between this, the burial materials and the distribution of material remains. In this way he will attempt to reconstruct the social and economic organization of this community. Mr. Seung-Og shares with many archaeologists the goal of understanding how complex societies arise. The material with which he will work documents an early stage in this process when social stratification first becomes apparent and chiefdoms appear. The combination of a large extensively excavated site, a wealth of material remains and an associated cemetery provides an excellent data base with which to address this issue. It will provide information directly comparable with research done in other regions of the world. This research is important for several reasons. It addresses an important archaeological issue. It will make a rich and little known data base available to Western archaeologists and also strengthen scientific links between Korea and the United States. Finally it will assist in the training of a promising young scientist.
