Gender and Regeneration of Life in South Korean Bronze Age Bodies and Burials

The discovery of daggers and arrowheads alongside female bodies in the Bonchonri and Hari Bronze Age sites has prompted discussions on how to understand those combinations of female bodies and weapon-type artefacts. At the same time, traces of so-called ‘beheading’ and ‘funerary tooth extraction’ have been highlighted as ‘unique’ features of female burials. However, re-examination of excavation reports of Bronze Age bodies reveals many more cases where parts of bodies were likely to be intentionally removed or combined with other bodies across sex and age. This study aims to understand sociocultural implications such acts of deconstructing or combining body parts have. In pursuit of this goal, existing studies of such acts are introduced from a cross-cultural perspective. It is then suggested that the acts of removing or combining body parts point towards cultural perceptions of human beings and their bodies as dividual and permeable beings, rather than simply being unique features limited to some female burials.