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.

Highlights

• 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.

Before you go

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.