Bangudae Petroglyphs

More than 300 petroglyphs are engraved. Animal figures Shapes and features enable the species to be discriminated. Most of them are whales and concentrated on the left main rock face. Ungulate mammals like deer and predatory animals like tigers, leopard, and wolves are mainly on the right main rock face. Animals whose species can be identified include large cetaceans such as the northern right whale, the humpback whale, the right whale, the gray whale, and the sperm whale. There are also sea animals such as sea turtles, seal, salmon-like fish; sea birds; and land animals such as red deer, musk deer, roe deer, water deer, tigers, leopards, wolves, foxes, raccoon dogs, and wild boars. Sea birds are always placed around whales as they are hunting prey. Some engravings show mating and molt scenes of land animals and because of different patterns and angle of fall suggest the annual change of seasons and the breeding season. Tools Tools relating to hunting and fishing such as boats, floats, harpoons, fishing net, fish pounds, and bows provide information on the age of the rock art and livelihood of the time. This site also has scenes of whales and tigers being captured with a net. Although no prehistoric net has yet been excavated, fine marks of net on pottery discovered in the Dongsam-dong Shell Midden suggest that nets were widely used not only for fishing but also for hunting in those days. The site has scenes showing whaling activities in great detail. Around 5–17 people are on boats surrounding whales. The bows and sterns are semi-circular and are connected to a harpoon stuck into the body of whales and to floats hanging on a rope. The tools are almost identical to those used by natives for whaling today. Indeterminate figures Engravings of uncertain theme and content have been classified into two types: those of unknown theme which are in good condition and those of unknown shape which have been worn and damaged over time and are therefore hard to decode. Some have signs with certain patterns, but it is hard to classify them on the basis of engravings on the rock alone. Signs are conceptual expressions that are impossible to find in real life but are repeated expressions of a certain pattern. ==Dating==

According to the results of an analysis of animal bones discovered in a shell midden in Ulsan and widespread along the southeastern coasts and of research on Ulsan Bay's archaeological environment, the site dates from 6,000 to 1,000 BC. Many relics related to the themes of the rock art were found at Neolithic sites, include deer pattern pottery, net pattern pottery and shell mask discovered in the Dongsam-dong Shell Midden in Busan, a figure with human faces in Osan-ri in Yangyang, a small clay wild pig excavated from the shell midden on Yokjido island of Tongyeong, the clay figure of a woman in Sinam-ri in Ulsan, and a small clay seal excavated from the shell midden in Sejuk-ri, Ulsan. Furthermore, a boat was excavated from the shell midden in Bibong-ri, Changnyeong, and during the Hwangseong-dong site excavation research project conducted by the Korea Archaeology and Art History Research Institute a whale bone stuck with a harpoon was found, which empirically proves whaling. . The layers which contain the bones of captured whales date back to 5500 to 4700 BP. Consequently, considering livelihoods in that period, hunting and fishing tools, related relics, and contemporary contents, the rock art seems to have been made between the early and mid-Neolithic era. Before the site was discovered, the first whaling was thought to have taken place between the 10th and 11th century. From the abundant representations of marine animals, the site seems to be in close relationship with hunter-fishers attributed to the Neolithic era (between 8000 BP and 3500 BP). Consequently, the Bangudae site has the most ancient evidence of whaling worldwide and is considered highly important not only as a first whaling representation, but also for understanding prehistoric maritime culture in the northern Pacific area. == Similar sites ==

In evaluating the global importance of the site, ICOMOS compared it to six other rock art locations in East Asia (spread across Russia, Mongolia, Japan, and China). Among these, only the petroglyphs of Sikachi-Alyan and the Tsagaan Salaa rock art reflect a similarly prolonged cultural history. However, they lack the iconographic diversity and density of carvings found in the Bangudae petroglyphs. The fishing and cetacean motifs portrayed near Ulsan are absent in Japan and China, appearing to a comparable degree only in Pegtymel site in Chukotka and the Karelia site in European Russia. == Preservation concerns ==

In 2025, the petroglyphs were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The Sayeon Dam, built from 1962 to 1965 and expanded between 1999 and 2002, helps supply Ulsan with drinking water but has caused the rocks on which the petroglyphs are carved to be flooded for about eight months of every year. This periodic flooding raises concerns of erosion and water damage of the rock-art motifs, which are considered to be masterpieces of prehistoric art and an invaluable source of prehistoric information. The government of Korea is considering building a polycarbonate “dam” to protect the rock faces. == See also ==