Seongam-dong Shell Midden

A shell midden, also called a shell mound, is a site where the shells discarded by prehistoric people living along the coast or riverside have built up into a mound-like deposit. The lime content of the shells preserves the pottery, stone tools and animal bones within them well, making such sites valuable material for archaeological research. The Seongam-dong shell midden was identified during a surface survey in 2000, and lies where the Oehwang River meets the sea, at the point where river water and seawater mix. To the southeast of the site is the Ulsan Sejuk site, which dates to the same period as the Seongam-dong midden, and to the northeast is Gaeunpo Fortress, a Joseon-period garrison fort of a naval battalion commander. Owing to the rise and fall of the tide, the deposits at the site consist of alternating layers of fine silty soil washed in from the coast and weathered bedrock soil and gravel eroded from the hill. Most of the artefacts have been found at the present-day edge of the coastline. Among the everyday objects of the Neolithic inhabitants recovered are raised-design pottery, comb-pattern pottery, stone axes and net sinkers. Evidence relating to diet includes turban shells, spiny top shells, oysters, hard clams and dolphin bones. Given that raised-design pottery has been found here, the midden is thought to have formed and remained in use around 5,000 BCE, during the early Neolithic period in the southern regions of the Korean peninsula. Once further academic research has been carried out, the site is expected to be recognised, together with the Hwangseong-dong site, the Sejuk site, the Ubong-ri site and the Sinam-ri site on the south-eastern coast, as an important site for understanding Neolithic culture in the Ulsan region and the cultural exchange between the south coast and the east coast.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Nam-gu, Ulsan

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물