Chairman
"We are a homogeneous nation of the same blood. We are a nation that has lived on the same land, speaking the same language and developing the same culture since ancient times. We are a resourceful nation with a time-honoured history of five thousand years, a refined culture and traditions."
The anthropolith discovered at Chongpadae in Hwangju County is also of great significance in solving the issue of the origin of Koreans on the basis of archaeological data found in Korea.
The site is located in the mountain (latitude 38°40'54'' N and longitude 125°47'30'' E) at the back of Chongpadae Village in the township of Hwangju County, North Hwanghae Province, about 40 km south of Pyongyang.
The Chongpadae Cave Site was excavated from May Juche 88 (1999) to October Juche 93 (2004) and the cave deposit was divided into 15 layers. The mandible, occipital and radial bone found on the thirteenth layer is called Hwangju Man No. 2.
1. Physical feature of Hwangju Man No.2
This is considered to be a man of about 30-35 years old, according to the size of the mandible, occipital and radial bone, the development of the bony surface folds, the degree of engagement of the suture line in the occipital bone, and the abrasion state of the crown chewing surface.
-The mandible has a rough surface and well-developed bony folds.
The chin branch width is 37.3 mm and its height is 58.3 mm.
The index characterizing the relative size of the chin branch is 65.5, which belongs to the large type (more than 58.1). In addition, the mandibular body size factor, which characterizes the relative size of the mandible, is 90.7 and its length index, 105.2, belongs to the intermediate type.
And the mandible of Hwangju Man No. 2 belongs to the large type with a mandibular body thickness index of 45.3. The mandible is poorly developed. Thus, the chin protrusion index is 107.6, which corresponds to the small type.
The chin branch is slightly larger than the chin-tongue spine, but the maxillary is characterized by a hollow and distinct trophopore.
The jaw aperture is relatively low placed with its position index 47.1.
-On the left side of the mandible, there are preserved canines, first and second premolars, first molars, and on the right side, second incisors, canines, first and second premolars, first and second molars.
The first molars belong to the large type with a crown size factor of 11.5 (left) and 11.3 (right).
In the case of the second molar, the crown size factor is 10.4 (right), which belongs to the middle type. The relative size of the molars is characterized by P1M2 in the case of premolars.
The first molar is a slightly larger square in length compared to its width.
The crown chewing surface of the molars has well-developed cusps and sulcus, which are generally characterized by a wider post cusps than the other three cusps.
-The occipital bone has a rough surface, and the suture lines at the border of the superior and lateral skulls are remarkable.
On the surface of the occipital bone, a superior nape line and a superficial hind-head crest are developed. And there are relatively large bulges in the inner surface.
The occipital bone's curved length is 126.0 mm and its straight length, 102.2 mm.
The occipital bone curvature index was 81.1, which belongs to a relatively small type.
The thickness of the occipital bone is 12.9 mm at the occiput point, 5.4 mm at the middle, and 3.9 mm at the cerebral bucket.
And, the cerebral bucket is characterized by being large and deep compared to the cerebellar bucket.
In addition, the position of the inner and outer convex points is different, and the point of the occiput is inconsistent with that of the back of the head.
-The radial bone is that of the right arm, with a smooth back of his body and a slightly elongated front and exterior surface.
It can be seen that its length is 233.5 mm, the neck width is 27.5 mm, the width of the middle part of his body is 30.5 mm, and the width of his lower end stem cusp is 51.2 mm, which belongs to the large type.
2. Comparative morphological considerations of Hwangju Man No. 2
Hwangju Man No. 2 has comparatively and morphologically progressive features of modern man and primitive features of some Neolithic man as well.
-First primitive feature appears in the formation of mandibular convex teeth, but unlike modern humans, their development is poor.
The chin protrusion index, which reflects the degree of protrusion of the chin convex, is 107.6, and this is comparable with Neolithic man like Ryonggok Man No.2 (109.7), No. 5 (108.8) and No. 6 (105.0), Kumchon Man (105.0), Sungrisan Man (109.5), Taehung Man No.2 (114.7) and No. 6 (104.0), Mandal Man (112.9). But it belongs to the small type compared with Chinese Neolithic man like Shanzhengdong man (man 112.5~112.9).
Like this, the mandible convex of Hwangju Man No. 2 is less protrusive than that of modern humans.
Next primitive feature is the large width of the jaw branch.
During human evolution, the small width of the jaw branch in the mandible gradually decreased.
In the case of Hwangju Man No. 2, the small width of the jaw branch is 37.3 mm, which belongs to the minor type in the size range of the Neolithic man (36.0-42.3 mm), and is similar to that of the Neolithic man Ryonggok Man No. 1 (37.5 mm) and Taehung Man No. 2 (38.8 mm) known in Korea.
-It is also one of the primitive features that the mandible is fairly thick, although it is not very high.
In the case of Hwangju Man No. 2, the mandible is 30.2 mm high at the joint, similar to that of the Neolithic man Kumchon (31.2 mm) known in Korea, and low compared to that of Ryonggok Man No. 6 (40.0 mm), Sungrisan Man (37.0 mm), or Shanzhengdong man No. 101 (32.5 mm) known in China, and the Western Europe Neolithic man, the Cro-Magnon (35.7 mm).
The mandibular body thickness index is 45.3, which belongs a large size compared to the Ryonggok Man No. 1 (34.1), No. 2 (39.8), No. 6 (35.1), Sungrisan Man (41.5), the Kumchon Man (46.8), the Mandal Man (42.1), and the Shanzhengdong man of China (34.0~35.8).
The index of joints is 55.8, indicating that the jaw aperture is located relatively low, as does the Neolithic man Ryonggok No. 6 (47.3) and the Shanzhengdong man No.101 (47.1) of China.
-Primitive features are also found in teeth.
Especially, the canine has a crown index of 126.9, which is larger than that of Taehung Man No. 2 (120.0), Taehung Man No. 4 (117.1) and Kumchon Man (116.0) in the Neolithic man stage known in Korea.
The crown size factor of the first molar was 11.45, which falls within the size range of the Neolithic man.
-Primitive features also appear in the posterior skull.
Modern humans have a posterior skull curvature index in the range of 89.8 to 95.8, and in the case of Hwangju Man No. 2, the index is much smaller as 81.1, and smaller than that of the Neolithic Mandal man (88.5).
In addition, unlike in the case of modern humans, the point of the occiput is inconsistent with that of the back of the head, the difference in height between the internal and external convex points is remarkable, and the cerebral bucket is large and deep compared to the cerebellar bucket.
As shown above, Hwangju Man No. 2 has the primitive features of weak developed jaw convex, relatively thick mandibular bone, large jaw branch width, low position of jaw opening, relatively large canine and first molar, small bend index of the occiput, clear difference in height between internal and external convex points, and large cerebral bucket than cerebellar bucket.
Therefore, on the whole, Hwangju Man No. 2 is considered to correspond to the late Neolithic man stage.
Many anthropic fossils at the Neolithic man stage have been unearthed in Korea, but there are not as many Neolithic man at the late stage as Hwangju Man No. 2, so good data have been provided to make another advance in scientifically proving the process of evolution of mankind in our territory.
Hwangju Man No. 2, discovered at the site of Chongpadae Cave, is one of the precious national cultural heritages showing the process of human evolution in Korea.
