Amsadong Prehistoric Site

Amsa-dong sits on a terrace above the Han in eastern Seoul, and a flood in 1925 exposed pottery and stone tools that turned out to belong to a Neolithic settlement of around six thousand years ago - excavation since has found dozens of dwelling pits, hearths, storage holes and large quantities of jeulmun comb-pattern pottery, the characteristic ware of the Korean Neolithic, decorated with incised lines and with a pointed base for standing in sand. It is the largest settlement site of its period found in Korea. The site museum displays the finds and a preserved excavated pit under cover, and outside a group of dwellings has been reconstructed - round pits with conical thatched roofs over a sunken floor, which visitors can enter, giving a sense of the scale people actually lived at. It is aimed largely at school groups and works well for children. The riverside park and cycle path are alongside.

What you actually see

• The reconstructed pit houses - thatched dwellings you can go into.
• The preserved excavation - an original dwelling pit under cover.
• The comb-pattern pottery - jeulmun ware in the museum.
• The river terrace - the ground the settlement chose.

When to go

April to June and September to November. Weekday mornings during term time bring school groups; weekends are families. Closed on Mondays.

Honest expectations

Most of what you see is reconstruction, and the site is pitched at school level. It is small - an hour or two. Labelling in English is partial.

Nearby

The Han River cycle path runs alongside; Olympic Park and Mongchontoseong are south-west.