The examination of pottery impressions from Bogam-ri, Naju, Korea, revealed that the site occupants cultivated a wide range of plants that included rice, red bean, melon, and hemp.
The current investigation focussed on hemp (Cannabis sativa L.), an annual herbaceous plant that has traditionally been grown for the bast fiber, edible oil seeds, and hallucinogenic drugs. The recovered achenes are mostly shorter than 4㎜, and are generally smaller than the contemporary hemp seeds for oil extraction. The hemp fiber is an important material for the manufacture of durable fabrics. The recovery of ceramic spindle whorl, wooden spool, yarn guide, and a piece of hemp cloth from Sinchang-dong, Gwangju, indicated that hemp was used to make fabrics in southern Korea no later than the first century BC. In addition to crops such as rice, wheat, millet, and legume, hemp was an important economic plant in the Mahan society for producing fabrics and clothes.