Liaoning bronze dagger culture

Liaoning-style violin-shaped bronze knives from Korea held at the War Memorial (Seoul).

The early phase consists of an early period of bronze manufacture without daggers, followed by a period of producing violin-shaped daggers. The prime period of production of violin-shaped daggers is dated to the 8th and 7th centuries BC.

The earliest artifacts from this period are found exclusively in China (mostly in the former territory of Gojoseon - the territory of the kingdom is approximated by the distribution of violin-shaped daggers and table-shaped dolmens), and seem only gradually to have spread to the Korean peninsula. By Lee's (1996) Phase II, however, a distinctive notched form of dagger begins to emerge in southern Korea, suggesting that by this time independent bronze production had begun in that region.

Evidence gained from pottery indicates that the bronze dagger "culture" of this time actually included several distinct cultural groups. One distinct pottery tradition is found in northeast China and northwestern Korea, another in the Taedong River valley, another in the southwest around the Chungcheong provinces including the Geum River, and yet another throughout the rest of the southern Korean peninsula including Jeju island.

This later part of the Liaoning bronze dagger culture is often referred to as the "Korean bronze dagger culture," since it was largely restricted to the Korean peninsula. At this point the Liaoning culture artifacts begin to disappear from the northeast China area. A new form of dagger begins to turn up on the Korean peninsula, straight and slender.

The greatest concentration of bronze daggers is found in the Geum River valley of South Chungcheong province. Away from this area, the daggers become progressively fewer. This appears to indicate that most daggers were produced in the Geum valley, and the other cultures of the peninsula acquired them primarily by trade. Trade also took place by sea, with artifacts from the Later Phase found in Japanese archeological sites as well.

Lee (1996) divides this phase into two distinct sections: one dating to the 3rd century BC in which the production of slender bronze daggers predominated, and one dating to the 2nd century BC in which daggers are often accompanied by bronze mirrors with geometric designs and halberds influenced by the Chinese Qin state. In the first part, a single pottery culture typified by clay-band applique is found throughout the Korean peninsula, but in the second part distinctive pottery types emerge in the northwest and the remainder of the peninsula.

The disappearance of the Liaoning bronze dagger culture from China appears to coincide with the State of Yan's conquest of that area. The Korean bronze dagger culture of the Later Phase appears to correspond with the state of Jin, which occasionally enters Chinese annals as a contemporary of Wiman Joseon. Lee (1984, p. 13) views this as the period of emergence of the "walled-town states" in Korean culture, a hierarchical political structure in contrast to the tribal system which had prevailed during the Neolithic period.

• List of China-related topics
• List of Korea-related topics
• History of Korea
• Megalithic tomb

• Lee, C.-k. (1996). "The bronze dagger culture of Liaoning province and the Korean peninsula". Korea Journal. 36 (4): 17–27. Archived from the original on 2007-03-11.
• Lee, K.-b. (1984). A new history of Korea. Tr. by E.W. Wagner & E.J. Schulz, based on 1979 rev. ed. Seoul: Ilchogak. ISBN 89-337-0204-0