EAPSI: Modeling the Patterns of Past Human Migration during the Middle Bronze Age in Korea

Kim Habeom, Eugene OR

Investigators

Abstract

Human migration has long been considered one of the major sources of impact on cultural expansion and changes in archaeology. Understanding of migrations become increasingly critical in current sociopolitical and economic situations where populations are migrating and interacting globally at an unprecedented rate. Relatively constricted concepts of past migrations as disconnected, passive events have come in for criticism. A new set of questions highlights the special relevance of migration not only to archaeological studies that concern how and why culture has changed, but also to social, ecological, and behavioral sciences that seek explanations on human choices and behaviors. This project will examine and model the patterns of human migration of the Songguk-ri (SGR) culture, a prehistoric Bronze Age culture, occurring between approx. 800 ? 400 BCE in Korea. By applying spatial landscape analysis using high-performance computation and simulation systems on SGR settlement patterns over time, the project will explore complex social and environmental factors, processes, and impacts behind long-term human migration. This project will be conducted at the Korean Institute of Archaeology and Environment (KIAE) at Korea University in collaboration with Dr. Lee, Hongjong and his research associates, noted scholars and pioneers in Environmental and Landscape Archaeological Science and its application in Korea. This project will examine and model the patterns of human migration of the Songguk-ri (SGR) culture occurring during the Korean Middle Bronze Age (2800 ? 2400 cal. BP) in Korea through a spatial analytic perspective using Geographical Information System (GIS) and Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation (ABMS) on SGR settlement distribution. Since the SGR culture shows evidence of rapid and sustained human migration across various geographical and cultural barriers within the relatively short 400 years after its emergence, this case study on SGR expansion will contribute valuable insight to current understandings on complex social and environmental factors, processes, and impacts behind long-term human migration across preferred landscapes. This project will be conducted at the Korean Institute of Archaeology and Environment (KIAE) at Korea University in collaboration with Dr. Lee, Hongjong and his research associates, noted scholars and pioneers in Environmental and Landscape Archaeological Science and its application in Korea. This award under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the National Research Foundation of Korea.