l) Iron Culture
It was in the fourth and third century B.C that iron culture appeared in the Korean peninsula. Ironware was introduced into Korea not by sea, but from the north, following the courses of the Yalu, Ch'ongch'on and Taedong Rivers and with this developed the technology of iron gilding. The earlier period of iron culture is characterized by the blending of iron and bronze instruments. In general, the period of iron culture refers to the later period when iron instruments dominated.
  Iron swords, sickles and reaping hooks excavated at Kang Gye, Kildadong, Jeonchon, and Seohari of Pyung An Buk Do (North-western most province) indicate clearly that these areas had been the trading posts with China. The iron culture of the Korean peninsula is credited with its contribution to the flourishing of the Yaoi culture in Japan. Among the iron-made weapons, including swords, bows, arrows and shields, the Bipa (a musical instrument)-shaped sword and the sharply edged sword are most noteworthy for their unique shape and mixture of iron and bronze, whose parallel can be found nowhere in its neighboring ethnic groups. These artifacts are adorned with intricately engraved stripes, showing a significant departure from the crude shapes which predated them. They are believed to be the monopoly of the ruling class.
2) Houses and Tombs
The most typical house was a kind of dugout walled with mud but "ONDOL", the unique heating system of Korea, was used at this time. It was much later that the wooden houses were built on the ground. The size of a village became much larger, as evidenced by one village near Seonun-dong of Wuwon which had
500 households.
  
Burial customs were also changing. The use of dolmens died out, and in their place two new kinds of burial appeared. The "Togwang-myo" seems to have been simply a mount of earth which measures 3 meters high and one meter wide to cover the corpse. The "Onggwan-myo, of which some examples have survived, consisted of several ceramic pot-shaped sections fitted together to form a coffin. The latter is found in the YEONGSANGANG basin in the south-west province and the NAKDONGGANG basin in the south-east province. Time brought with it the tendency to build tombs with stones.
The introduction of Chinese culture was facilitated by a string of political events over centuries, including the defection of Wiman from China and his seizure of power, Han's invasion and the establishment of Han's colonies. The remains of architectural monuments at Tosong-ri of PYEONGYANG bear testimony to the luxurious life of the ruling class in those days. The culture of Han's colonies were the objects of envy among the local people. Stimulated by the Chinese examples and strengthened by the new technology, the tribal communities bordering the Chinese colonies began to develop into integrated political units.
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