Humans on the Korean peninsula originated in the Taedong River basin centring on Pyongyang in the primitive ages.
The fossil bones of animals eaten by apemen and stone implements were unearthed at the Komunmoru remains in Sangwon County, North Hwanghae Province, near Pyongyang. They date back to the former Palaeolithic Age, or one million years. The primitive men lived in groups, forming a primitive community, the first social organization.
The remains of Ryokpho Man, Tokchon Man and Hwadae Man who had lived in the middle Palaeolithic Age were also discovered. Hwadae Man, who was recently excavated in Soksong-ri, Hwadae County, North Hamgyong Province, was a palaeoanthropic man who had lived 300 000 years ago.
The remains of Sungnisan Man, Mandal Man and Hwangju Man, who were neanthropic men in the later Palaeolithic Age, show the anthropological succession from apemen to palaeoanthropic and neanthropic men in Korea in the primitive ages and provide scientific evidence that the valley of the Taedong River centring on Pyongyang is one of the cradles of humankind.
The Homo sapiens in the Neolithic Age had lived in dugouts, farming and raising domestic animals.
The ancestors of the Korean nation had already entered the Bronze Age in the latter half of the fourth millennium BC and created an advanced ancient civilization, Taedonggang Culture, early in the 30th century BC.
The long primitive ages ended with the emergence of state in the wake of the transition from matriarchy to patriarchy.