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| Gangdong-gu head Lee Hae-sik, fourth from left, and National Museum of Korea Director Bae Ki-dong, fifth from left, pose with domestic and international scholars during the International Symposium on Amsa Prehistoric Site at Gangdong Arts Center, southeastern Seoul, Friday. / Courtesy of Gangdong-gu Office |
Amsa-dong relics show aesthetics dating back to Neolithic era
By You Soo-sun
Pottery patterns found at Amsa-dong, a prehistoric settlement site located in eastern Seoul, reveal the breadth of human innovation and appreciation of beauty.
The comb-pattern pottery relics date back to the Neolithic era, signifying humankind's desire to make aesthetic pottery since early times and how it has evolved over time.
"Beauty reveals itself through culture in day-to-day lives. The comb-pattern pottery is the archetype of this," Bae Ki-dong, National Museum of Korea director and professor emeritus of Hanyang University, explained to The Korea Times, Monday.
Bae described the pottery patterns as stylistic expressions people used to make their spaces look better and more meaningful, just as we dress to express ourselves today. "And these reveal a lot about human general cognitive ability to express ― they allow us to study human thinking and emotions."
The patterns also have great ethnographic value, allowing scholars to trace these patterns over time and compare them across regions. The patterns found at Amsa-dong, in particular, are the oldest in the country and thus are the most typical for comparison.
"This shows culture existed even before farming, suggesting there was cognitive awareness of design and art, not just of the basic necessities for living," Yoon Hee-jin, curator of the Gangdong-gu Office Prehistoric Remains Division, told The Korea Times, Monday.
Recently, the Gangdong-gu Office held its second International Symposium on the Amsa Prehistoric Site where domestic and international scholars discussed the significance of various pottery patterns.
To better understand what sets Korea's comb-pattern apart from other patterns, the Gangdong-gu Office invited scholars from Russia, Japan and China to the symposium. The scholars lectured on the diversity and evolution of pottery patterns pertaining to specific regions and later had a chance to look at the relics excavated at Amsa-dong.
"For these relics to qualify as having outstanding universal value, we need to show they are distinct from those found abroad," Yoon said. "To do so, we invited foreign scholars and during their visit they acknowledged the comb pattern was unique."
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