Records of forty years of excavation since the groundbreaking discovery of the Jeongok-ri hand axe are brought together at this exhibition.
Held in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the excavation of the Joengok-ri hand axe, the exhibition reveals a dramatic story behind the discovery of the Paleolithic stone tool.
In April 1978, U.S. Air Force senior airman Greg Bowen found a stone standing out among others at the Hantangang River, in Jeongok-ri, Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi Province. Upon hearing the news, a team-led by Professor Kim Won-yong (Seoul National University) set out to conduct the excavation of the site, which started in 1979, the following year. This led to the first discovery of the Acheulian hand axe, the most developed Paleolithic stone tool, in East Asia. Since then, excavation and research efforts in the Jeongok-ri area have been carried out 17 times for over 40 years.
The exhibition features illustrations for young children as well as photographs and videos. Webtoon-style illustrations explain how the hand axe was discovered and identified by archeologists in Korea and France, while also introducing those involved in the excavation and the key facts about the project, for the purpose of enhancing the understanding of the historic discovery among children. The photographs and video recordings of the excavation work during the 1970s and 1980s are displayed with the report created by Greg Bowen in 1978 after finding the hand axe and other Paleolithic artifacts unearthed at the initial stages of the project in the decades of the 70s and 80s.
In addition, the video recording the first cultural festival in the Yeoncheon area, which is the predecessor of today’s Yeoncheon Paleolithic Festival held since 1993, is screened at the exhibition. The cultural festival was launched by the excavation team and the locals through their voluntary participation to promote the value of the prehistoric sites of Jeongok-ri. The video is a precious source about the origin and significance of the Yeoncheon Paleolithic Festival, which has become Korea’s most representative prehistoric themed festival.
