• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.71-92
• /
• 2023

This study investigates the symbolism and meaning of the bead design, its relationship with the Silla culture, and the conditions of glass bead manufacturing to verify the theory of Silla's production of Silla face-inlaid glass beads with excellent artistry and technology. The research method includes investigating the design analysis, ancient documents, myths, relics, glass, and metal production techniques. Moreover, Hongshan cultural relics and other cases of inlaid glass beads were collected. There are records in the literature that the people of Makhan, Buyeo and Silla of ancient Korea people considered beads as treasures and used them for accessories. It was confirmed that all the design elements of the bead-patterned hair topknot, golden crown, birds, and flower trees were closely related to the myth of Kim Al-ji of Silla, the oviparous tales and the sacred birds and divine beasts of the north. Moreover, the pattern and arrangements were found to be similar in other Silla relics. The origin of beads and face pendants was Hongsan culture, and a stone cast for beads was discovered in Bukpyo of Gojoseon, the lower-level culture of Hajiajeom. In addition, excavating inlaid glass beads from Sik-ri tombs of Korea and a face-inlaid glass bead from Toganmori tombs in Japan confirms the theory of Silla's production. The fact that the Baekje people of ancient Korea had a glass bead manufacturing office in Japan in the fifth centuries suggests that the Silla people also had a manufacturing plant in Java, Indonesia, because this place was a crossroads of Silla's Sea Silk Road and a source of raw materials and labors with a close relationship to Silla. Therefore, the face-inlaid glass bead was indeed self-made by Silla, who possessed the tradition of bead myths and hair topknot, and the high-level skills such as gold crowns and metal inlays.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
• /
• v.45 no.4
• /
• pp.54-73
• /
• 2012

In this article, we examined the patterns of activities of the Sarmathians though in a humble measure, with a focus on the regions where the Sarmathian sheaths spreaded. One of the main weapons the mounted nomads like the Scythias, the Sarmathians, and the Alans used at war was a spear. Though complementary, a sword was the most convenient and appropriate weapon when fighting at a near distance, fallen from the horse to the ground. The Sarmathian swords continued the tradition of the Akinakes which the Scythias or the Persians used, but those of the Sarmathians showed some advances in terms of the easiness with which a sword was drawn out from a sheath, and the way the sheaths were worn to parts of a human body. It turns out that the Sarmathian sheaths, which were designed for the people to draw swords easily, having the sheaths attached to thighs through 4 bumps, spread extensively from Pazyryk, Altai, to South Siberia, Bactria, Parthia and Rome. The most noteworthy out of all the Sarmathian sheaths were the ones that were excavated from the 4th tomb in Tillatepe, Afghanistan which belonged to the region of Bactria. The owner of the fourth tomb of Tilla-tepe whose region was under the control of Kushan Dynasty at that time, was buried wearing Sarmathian swords, and regarded as a big shot in the region of Bactria which was also under the governance of Kushan Dynasty. The fact that the owner of the tomb wore two swords suggests that there had been active exchange between Bactria and Sarmathia. It seemed that the reason why the Sarmathians could play an important role in the exchange between the East and the West might have something to do with their role of supplying Chinese goods to Silk Road. That's why we are interested in how the copper mirrors of Han Dynasty, decoration beads like melon-type beads, crystal beads and goldring articulated beads, and the artifacts of South China which produced silks were excavated in the northern steppe route where the Sarmathians actively worked. Our study have established that the eye beads discovered in Sarmathian tomb estimated to have been built around the 1st century B.C. were reprocessed in China, and then imported to Sarmathia again. We should note the Huns as a medium between the Sarmathians and the South China which were far apart from each other. Thus gold-ring articulated beads which were spread out mainly across the South China has been discovered in the Huns' remains. On the other hand, between 2nd century B.C. and 2nd century A.D. which were main periods of the Sarmathians, it was considered that the traffic route connecting the steppe route and the South China might be West-South silk road which started from Yunnan, passed through Myanmar, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, and then went into the east of India. The West-south Silk road is presumed to have been used by nomadic tribes who wanted to get the goods from South China before the Oasis route was activated by the Han Dynasty's policy of managing the countries bordering on Western China.

• Conservation Science in Museum
• /
• v.26
• /
• pp.67-82
• /
• 2021

Two golden beads (Buyeo 5336) housed at the Buyeo National Museum were discovered in 1993 near the site of an ancient workshop in Neungsan-ri in Buyeo-gun, Chungcheongnam-do Province. These rare examples from the Baekje Kingdom of an application of granulation have maintained their original form intact, and thus serve as important materials for the investigation of production techniques applied. This study analyzed the composition of the golden beads using a portable X-ray fluorescence analyzer, a stereo microscope, and a scanning electron microscope with an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer. The manufacturing technique was examined through the observation of the micro-shape and the surface condition and by a composition analysis of the joint part. In both beads, a hole was pierced in a hollow body and the bead was decorated with golden wires around the hole and gold granules in other parts. In some areas, golden granules had been attached to the gold plate and golden wires were then placed over the granules. The purity of both the wires and the granules was analyzed as 23.6 - 23.7K. A high copper content was detected in some of the parts where the granules were attached. The findings of a previous reproduction experiment and study of production methods suggest that the beads were made using the copper diffusion technique.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
• /
• v.51 no.4
• /
• pp.66-83
• /
• 2018

This article focuses how the materials of hatstrings of the 19th to 20th century gat, the Korean top hat for men among the collections of National Folk Museum of Korea, was transformed after port opening treaties with overseas since 1876. As a result of analyzing the materials of the hatstrings, amber, tortoiseshell, wood and bamboo as the traditional materials were used, and ivory, glass (soda glass, lead glass, alkali mixed glass) and plastics (cellulose nitrate, phenol-formaldehyde, polystyrene, acryl) were newly used for the hatstrings. Bamboo, wood and amber were the most frequently used materials. Bamboo was mainly used for the pipe of hatstring and were combined with beads and central decorations of other materials. This shows the trend of bamboo hatstring according to the simplification of the clothing and the culture by Regent Heungseon Daewongun. Ambers were used in the central decorations and beads and the origin of ambers was baltic amber just like the amber relics found in Korea. Compositions of glass were soda glass and alkali mixed glass which were excavated or handed down in Korea from ancient times to Joseon dynasty. But in the case of lead glass, Na2O was detected and it is considered to be a new type lead glass for crafts which came from overseas after port opening since 1876 because it showed the characteristic that it deviates from the lead glass component found in Korea. Plastics such as cellulose nitrate and phenol-formaldehyde were used as new synthetic materials to replace traditional materials such as tortoiseshell, amber, and coral as in the West. Cracks, crazing, crumbly and yellowing of cellulose nitrate of hatstrings were observed by deterioration. The survey of the materials of the 19th to 20th century hatstrings among the collections of National Folk Museum of Korea showed that the introduction of new materials such as glass and plastics were used to replace natural materials such as tortoiseshell and amber along with the use of traditional materials after port opening since 1876.

• Journal of Conservation Science
• /
• v.34 no.6
• /
• pp.459-470
• /
• 2018

Cellulose nitrates were used for folklore artifacts(ornamental beads and pipes in hatstrings, frames of eyeglasses, ornamental eyeglass cases, headband ornaments, and jeogori buttons) between the 19th and 20th centuries; however, they are susceptible to cracking, crazing, embrittlement, and crumbling due to deterioration. To consolidate and adhere deteriorated cellulose nitrate folklore artifacts, water-soluble acrylic emulsion adhesives were investigated. For consolidation, Plextol D 498, which has the lowest viscosity in low concentrations, was used. In adhesive films whose glass transition temperature(Tg) is lower than room temperature, the tensile stress and modulus decreased and the strain increased; therefore, the flexibility was high. The Plextol D 498 and Plextol D 498 and Dispersion K 52 films maintained their adhesiveness and flexibility after artificial-sunlight-accelerated ageing, and Plextol D 498 and Dispersion K 52 films hardly caused yellowing. Plextol D 498 was the most stable for accelerating ageing. A low concentration of Plextol D 498 emulsion resulted in the best permeability on the surface of cellulose nitrate, compared with other acrylic emulsions. To prevent ornamental hatstrings from cracking, crazing, embrittlement, and crumbling, a Plextol D 498 emulsion was used. After applying low concentrations(1%, 3%) of the emulsion to consolidate the fragments and high concentration to adhere the fragments, the ornamental hatstrings were protected from crumbling by deterioration, and their fragments were well-adhered. To preserve it from deterioration by oxygen and humidity, the treated ornament was sealed with an oxygen-barrier film using a low-humidity oxygen scavenger.

• Journal of Conservation Science
• /
• v.23
• /
• pp.25-37
• /
• 2008

This study focuses on identification of mineralogical and geochemical characteristics and interpretation of raw material sources for prehistoric chlorite beads excavated from Geoseokri site in Boseong and Buntori site in Haenam, Korea. These prehistoric beads consist of three grayish blue ring-shaped beads, one dark green tubular bead and one greenish black tubular bead that show acicular-columnar and fibrous microtexture. The beads are composed of $SiO_2$, $Al_2O_3$, MgO and FeO as majors and a trace amount of $K_2O$, CaO and Na_2O$. Mineral species is mostly chlorite with a small amount of quartz and feldspar. Quantitative analysis indicates that the grayish blue ring-shaped beads and the dark green tubular bead belong to clinochlore and the greenish black tubular bead does to the boundary between clinochlore and sheridantie. Chlorite is a hydrous phyllosilicate mineral and it shows various microtexture of acicular, sheeted, earthy, granular andfibrous shapes. As its hardness is 2, chlorite is easily engraved due to its softness. It has aesthetic worthy as it shows green, black and greenish gray colors and pearly to greasy luster as well. These factors would lead to the extensive use of chloritic beads as ornaments from prehistoric times. Though the mineral sources of the chlorite beads can be found in central western region of Chungnam and Iwon of Hamnam, those areas are too distant from the two relic sites. Instead, chlorite ores commonly occur as altered products in wall rock alteration zone of every hydrothermal deposit. Therefore, it is probable that raw materials of chlorite were supplied from neighboring hydrothermal environment rather than far deposits. The result needs further study to verify raw material provenance interpretation, supply, manufacture and distribution on the basis of archaeological points of view.