Chungbuk Monument No. 103, Archaeological Site in Gunanggul Cave, Danyang

The Archaeological Site in Gunanggul Cave is a Paleolithic cave site with almost completely preserved cave exterior and interior, which is very rare in Korea.
It was excavated in two phases from 1986 to 1988. The total length of the cave is 140 meters, and the condition at the time of excavation was perfect, with no destruction or disruption. The limited scope of the excavation revealed a total of eight layers, including three sedimentary layers and five limestone floor layers (the bottom layer was not identified). Pollen and charcoal analyses suggest that the first layer was warm and humid, while the third layer was a period of transition from a lush climate of longleaf and broadleaf trees to a gradually cooler climate.
In particular, the excavation of butterfly wing scales and macaque fossils indicate that the climate was warm at the time. Five layers of limestone show multiple hot and humid climatic events. The cultural layer with the highest concentration of bone fossils, stone tools, and bone industry is the third layer (second sedimentary layer), which forms the main cultural layer of Gunanggul Cave. Stone tools are made of limestone and stalactites that have fallen from the rocks by a simple pecking technique, and they can be divided into picks, choppers, scrapers, and grates according to their use.
Bone industries are made by trimming the flakes removed from long bones, and small flake marks that were irregularly broken off during use can be observed. The species composition of the fossilized animal remains includes one macaque, 64 sika deer, five bears, two tigers, two lynxes, six badgers, one marten, one bird, and a bat. This suggests that deer were a major part of the diet of the people living in the cave.
The human bones included ankle, top of the foot, and toes, which were judged based on their shape and characteristics to belong to an adult man. Due to the limited excavation, absolute dates have not yet been obtained for the cave, but the species composition and sedimentation patterns suggest that the main cultural layer, layer 3, corresponds to the warm period of the Late Pleistocene.

- Designated date: December 30, 1994