People and Labor: Those Who Carried the Excavation Forward

Since the accidental 1925 discovery, institutions including the National Museum of Korea, Seoul National University Museum, and Kyung Hee University have carried the excavation forward for more than half a century — and today, that lineage continues through the site's tour guides and hands-on education instructors.

Key takeaways

Beyond the National Museum of Korea's formal 1971–1975 excavation, the Seoul National University Museum conducted a re-excavation in 1983–84 to gather educational materials, and another excavation took place in 1998 to expand the site's education center. Fact In 2005 and 2008, the Seoul National University Museum and Kyung Hee University respectively conducted a test excavation and a full excavation to develop the site's northern section into a hands-on visitor village. Fact A test excavation took place in 2015 to prepare for park facility improvements, followed by an excavation survey from the following year through 2018 to confirm archaeological features. Fact This more-than-half-century lineage of excavation continues today through the cultural tourism guides and prehistoric hands-on education instructors who now greet visitors at the site.

What to look for on site

Signage summarizing the excavation history by institution and period
Cultural tourism guide program schedules
Hands-on prehistoric education programs (aimed at children)

Editorial note

Avoid collapsing the many institutions and periods involved into a single claim that "the site was excavated in one project." Make clear that today's understanding of the site was built through repeated surveys by multiple institutions over more than half a century.