The Yi and Bai people settle in the valleys of what is now Yunnan province of China. These were people of Tibetan culture. While 93 per cent of the people in China are now Han Chinese, there are 55 different ethnic groups, many of them in Yunnan province. The many valleys of this mountainous region allowed people from many different ethnic backgrounds to settle and survive relatively isolated from other people. This isolation helped the Yi and Bai people to survive as distinct communities even after most of China was taken over by the Han people.

Agriculture during the Bronze Age included rice cultivation in the southern part of Korea, as shown by the discovery of preserved, charred rice grains at Hunam-ri. One of the dwelling sites of this period was radiocarbon dated 2760 BC.

Bronze was being used, but mostly for precious objects. A bronze ritual ornament unearthed near Taejon depicts a man ploughing. Most everyday tools were still made of stone.

Most people lived in small villages with rectangular huts. Burial sites in the form of dolmen (standing stones) are much larger than those of the previous era.