A photobook of prehistoric remains on Korea published

A sourcebook on research during the Japanese colonial era when prehistoric archeology on the Korean Peninsula started development has been released.

The Gimhae National Museum recently unveiled a collection of pictures taken by Torii Ryuzo (1870-1953), a professor of Tokyo Imperial University, as part of its efforts to release archives under the Japanese colonial rule. The anthropologist conducted research on prehistoric remains on the Korean Peninsula nine times between 1911 and 1923.

Back then, the Japanese anthropologists thought that there was no Stone Age on the Korean Peninsula. However, Ryuzo refuted the academic opinion based on a stone ax found on the Korean Peninsula and his research in Manchuria.

He searched for traces of the prehistoric era, crisscrossing the Korean Peninsula from Jeju Island to North Hamgyong Province. The shell mound in Gimhae is a classic example of prehistoric remains discovered by him. He took around 3,800 photos of remains and relics during his research and 430 selected pictures were selected for the sourcebook. His journey for research was included based on his autobiography.

“It is meaningful in that Torii’s research data has been published for the first time since Korea’s independence," sources at the museum said. "It will be critical base data for the research of prehistoric archeology on the Korean Peninsula.”

Sang-Un Kim sukim@donga.com