Editing History of East Asia (section)

==Prehistory==
{{Main|Prehistoric Asia}}

[[Homo erectus]] ("upright man") is believed to have lived in [[East Asia]] from 1.8 million to 40,000 years ago.

In China specifically, fossils representing 40 ''Homo erectus'' individuals, known as [[Peking Man]], were found near [[Beijing]] at [[Zhoukoudian]] that date to about 400,000 years ago. The species was believed to have lived for at least several hundred thousand years in China,<ref name="AMNH Peking Man">[http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/human-origins/the-history-of-human-evolution/peking-man ''Peking Man''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419065731/http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/human-origins/the-history-of-human-evolution/peking-man |date=2014-04-19 }}. The History of Human Evolution. American Museum of Natural History. April 23, 2014.</ref> and possibly until 200,000 years ago in Indonesia{{Citation needed|date=August 2022|reason=Why the extra indonesia}}. They may have been the first to use fire and cook food.<ref>[http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/human-origins/early-human-family/homo-erectus/index.html ''Homo erectus''.] London: Natural History Museum. Retrieved April 23, 2014.</ref> [[Homo sapiens]] migrated into inland Asia, likely by following herds of [[bison]] and [[mammoth]] and arrived in southern [[Siberia]] by about 43,000 years ago and some people moved south or east from there.<ref>[http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/human-origins/one-human-species/by-land-and-by-sea ''By Land and Sea.''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419113824/http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/human-origins/one-human-species/by-land-and-by-sea |date=2014-04-19 }} American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved April 23, 2014.</ref><ref>[http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/human-origins/one-human-species/steppes-into-asia ''Steppes into Asia.''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419054340/http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/human-origins/one-human-species/steppes-into-asia |date=2014-04-19 }} American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved April 23, 2014.</ref>
The earliest sites of [[Neolithic]] culture include [[Nanzhuangtou]] culture around 9500 BC to 9000 BC,<ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1073/pnas.1115430109|pmid = 22355109|pmc = 3309722| title=Early millet use in northern China| journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences| volume=109| issue=10| pages=3726–3730| year=2012| last1=Yang| first1=X.| last2=Wan| first2=Z.| last3=Perry| first3=L.| last4=Lu| first4=H.| last5=Wang| first5=Q.| last6=Zhao| first6=C.| last7=Li| first7=J.| last8=Xie| first8=F.| last9=Yu| first9=J.| last10=Cui| first10=T.| last11=Wang| first11=T.| last12=Li| first12=M.| last13=Ge| first13=Q.|bibcode = 2012PNAS..109.3726Y|doi-access = free}}</ref> [[Pengtoushan culture]] around 7500 BC to 6100 BC, [[Peiligang culture]] around 7000 BC to 5000 BC. China's first villages appeared on the landscape at this time.

In Korea the [[Jeulmun pottery period]] is sometimes labeled the "Korean Neolithic", but since intensive agriculture and evidence of European-style 'Neolithic' lifestyle is sparse at best, such terminology is misleading.{{sfn|Lee|2001}} The Jeulmun was a period of hunting, gathering, and small-scale cultivation of plants from 20,000 BC to 8000 BC.{{sfn|Lee|2001}}{{sfn|Lee|2006}} Archaeologists sometimes refer to this life-style pattern as 'broad-spectrum [[hunter-gatherer|hunting-and-gathering]]'.

The [[Jōmon period]] occurred in Japan from circa 14,000 BC to 300BC, with some characteristics of both Neolithic and [[Mesolithic]] culture.