• Conservation Science in Museum
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• v.22
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• pp.1-14
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• 2019

The excavation of the south mound of Hwangnamdaechong Tomb in Gyeongju has yielded diverse types of shell artifacts. Among the them, this paper investigated fragments of shell ornaments with gilt-bronze frames, the use of which has not been identified. It was revealed that the artifacts are in fact nautilus cups, which had never been found previously in excavations in Korea. A nautilus is a species marine mollusk known to be the closest to prehistoric ammonites. It has brown stripes on the surface of the shell and septa inside, and a siphuncle penetrating to the center of the septa. It is known that nautilus cups were made and used in China, but only three examples have thus far been identified. These surviving cups have metal ornaments and are dated to the Western and Eastern Jin periods of China. No nautilus cups have been found in Japan, and the shell ornaments investigated in this study were determined to be the first nautilus cups ever found in Korea. Nautilus cups are mentioned in ancient documents and literature, including in poems by the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai and in Joseon-period documents. This paper presents the biological characteristics of nautili, cases of excavation of nautilus cups outside Korea, and findings from the basic research of the nautilus cup from Hwangnamdaechong Tomb.