Palaeolithic
The Palaeolithic is marked throughout the world by alternating warm (interglacial) and cool (glacial) cycles, meaning that in cold periods there would have been snow and ice which would have melted as temperatures became warmer. This freezing and melting would in turn mean that sea levels would rise and fall, sometimes impacting the land connections between countries, including the Korean peninsula. Although early humans seem to have been present in Korea for around 700,000 years, evidence for modern humans begins between 40,000 and 30,000 years ago mainly in the form of stone tools, fossils and animal remains. Stone tool evidence suggests that the Korean Palaeolithic is made up of two cultural stages (Bae and Bae 2012). The first dates to around 40,000 to 30,000 years ago when tools were large and roughly made. The second period begins around 25,000 years ago when microblades, that is sharp tools smaller than 5 centimetres, start to appear. During this later period tools became more delicate – they were smaller and sharper and we can see that some were designed for specific purposes, such as a blade group given the name of tanged points, which look like arrow heads and seem to have been designed to attach to wooden shafts that would have been used for hunting. Animal remains discovered dating to the Palaeolithic include wooly mammoth, wooly rhinoceros, hyenas, cave bears and brown bears.
References/Further Reading
Bae, C. J. and Bae, K. (2012) The nature of the Early to Late Paleolithic transition in Korea: Current perspectives. Quaternary International. Volume 281, 19 December 2012, Pages 26-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2011.08.044