• KOMUNHWA
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• no.70
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• pp.35-62
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• 2007

Songguk-ri site gained academic recognition by the excavation of stone coffin tomb with a bronze dagger in 1974. And it is confirmed that this site is epoch-making in Korean bronze age through the following excavation started in 1975. But the excavation reports published until now do not have even overall view of this site, thus it is difficult to get the whole picture of this site. Thus, in this paper the author reexamined all reports on this site and by making the map of overall view and distribution of archaeological features as a basic research. Moreover, I analyzed also artifacts from this site, and compared with the recent papers written by other researchers about the chronology and character. Songguk-ri site has livelihood domain which consists of dwelling pits, attached features, storage pits, pot-firing features, wood fence, abatises, buildings above ground, as well as cemetery which consists of stone-coffins, jar-coffins, pit tombs. Trace of making large terrace was also excavated. These features seem to belong to the same archaeological stage, dated about B.C.850-550, according to C14 dating. On the other hand, the intensification of wet-rice cultivation made this group more productive. Based on this financial strength, some influential group emerged they constructed defensive settlement to protect their products safely. Besides it seems that there were frequent occurrence of conflicts. However, we can know that they kept their stable life, through the expansion of living space. Consequently, Songguk-ri site played a role of the summit among some settlement in this area.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.33
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• pp.36-67
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• 2000

Square-shaped moated burial precincts(方形周溝墓) can be classified into type I that has bridges only at the comers, type II that has bridges at the comers and sides, type III that has bridges only at the sides, type IV that is surrounded by the moat without bridges, type V that has its sides less than those of type I ~ V by 1 or 2, and type VI that has the round-shaped ground. But the time differences among the types are not known yet. For the burial appliances of square-shaped moated burial precincts, there are stone coffins, pit burials and jar burials. The major burial appliances situated in the mound are stone coffins and pit burials, and jar burials are subsidiary appliances that were buried at the shoulder part of the mound or at precincts. According to the case of Gwanchang-ri KM423, grave mounds, which arc closely related with the burial appliances, were built by heaping up the earth in and around the precinct as low as only enough to protect the burial appliances. Considering the relics unearthed in the burial compartment of KM437, the time when square-shaped moated burial precincts were formed is estimated to be the age when Songguk-ri type earthenware and clay stripes earthenware co-existed. It was the early Iron Age when ironware began to sp read in this country. Emerging first in that age, square-shaped moated burial precincts were presumably formed until around the end of BC or the beginning of AD, when KM404 and KM423, which were unearthed with plain earthenware, grey earthenware and ironware, were formed. When analyzing the form of small-sized graveyards in precincts, the unearthed relics and the locations, the people who formed square-shaped moated burial precincts were considered as those who had a culture comprising clay stripes earthenware, which appears newly in the Songguk-ri type earthenware of native, and ironware, and a settled agricultural society based on paddy fields and labor forces of family units.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.98-119
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• 2021

This thesis aims to examine when the petroglyphs of Cheonjeon-ri, Ulju were carved and their nature. To achieve this, the relations between rituals and rock carving motifs are examined besides the nature of the archaeological monuments with carved petroglyphs. The investigation revealed that the figurative motifs on the petroglyphs of Cheonjeon-ri, Ulju, may have been carved during the Korean Bronze Age considering other examples of figurative petroglyphs from that period. It is reasonable to assume that the figurative animal motifs on the petroglyphs of Cheonjeon-ri, Ulju were used for rituals of fertility and rebirth as a subsistence ritual during the Korean Bronze Age. The Geomdan-ri Archaeological Culture Type is a strong candidate, having used both petroglyphs of Cheonjeon-ri and those of Bangudae, Ulju, since the Geomdan-ri Archaeological Culture Type has a higher proportion of hunting and fishing and lower proportion of rice cultivation in its subsistence than in the subsistence of the Songguk-ri Archaeological Culture Type. In contrast to the figurative motifs, the abstractive motifs, including the geometric designs on the petroglyphs of Cheonjeon-ri, Ulju, are generally accepted to have been carved during the Bronze Age. Although there have been some disputes over the symbolic meanings of concentric motifs, lozenge motifs, and other geometric motifs, they may be related to rituals for sun worship, ancestor worship, and fertility cults. Their meanings have been continuously reinterpreted.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.216-233
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• 2020

This study set out to review tomb culture in the Gyeongju region during the Bronze Age, and also examine the patterns of dolmens during their end phase. For these purposes, the study analyzed 18 tomb relics from the Bronze Age and nine from the early Iron Age. Gyeongju belongs to the Geomdan-ri cultural zone. Approximately 120 tombs from the Bronze Age have been excavated in the Gyeongju region. There are fewer tombs than dwellings in the region, which is a general characteristic of the Geomdan-ri cultural zone. Although the number of tombs is small, the detailed structure of the dead body is varied. During the Bronze Age, tombs in the Gyeongju region were characterized by more prolific construction of pit tombs, dolmens with boundaries, and stacked stone altars than were the cases in other areas. There is a great possibility that the pit tombs in the Gyeongju region were influenced by their counterparts in the northeastern parts of North Korea, given the spindle whorl artifacts buried at the Dongsan-ri sites. Dolmens with boundaries and stacked stone altars are usually distributed in the Songguk-ri cultural zone, and it is peculiar that instances of these are found in large numbers in the Gyeongju region as part of the Geomdanri cultural zone. Even in the early Iron Age, the building of dolmens with boundaries and stacked stone altars continued in the Gyeongju region under the influence of the Bronze Age. A new group of people moved into the area, and they crafted ring-rimmed pottery and built wooden coffin tombs. In the early Iron Age, new rituals performed in high places also appeared, and were likely to provide venues for memorial services for heavenly gods in town-center areas. The Hwacheon-ri Mt. 251-1 relic and the Jukdong-ri relic are ruins that exhibit the aspect of rituals performed in high places well. In these rituals performed in high places, a stacked stone altar was built with the same form as the dolmens with boundaries, and a similar rock to the cover stone of a dolmen was used. People continued to build and use dolmens with boundaries and stacked stone altars while sustaining the Bronze Age traditions, even into the early Iron Age, because the authority of dolmens was maintained. Some dolmens with boundaries and stacked stone altars, known as being Bronze Age in origin, would have continued to be used in ritual practices until the early Iron Age. Entering the latter half of the second century B.C., wooden coffin tombs began to propagate. This was the time when the southern provinces, including the Gyeongju region, were included in the East Asian network, with the spread of ironware culture and the arrival of artifacts from central China. Around this time, dolmen culture faded into history with a new era beginning in its place.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.48-101
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• 2010

This paper estimated the calendar date of pottery with ring-rim(粘土帶土器) with the radiocarbon dating. This was based on archaeological facts with comparing line relations and radiocarbon dates of Yayoi pottery(彌生土器). As a result, I understood that pottery with circle ring-rim(圓形粘土帶土器) appeared in BC 6c, pottery with triangle ringrim(三角形粘土帶土器) appeared at the time in BC 300 . Based on the calendar date and aspect of ironware and pottery in grave, I kept in BC 4c with appearance date of ironware. And I kept in BC 5c with appearance date of the slim bronze dagger culture. Korea and Japan common chronological order were built for the first time based on radiocarbon dates, line relations of pottery with ring-rim and Yayoi pottery. This is the calendar date to date back approximately 100~300 years from the existing the calendar date. Current periodization does not match in the calendar date when I built it newly. Therefore I suggested it as follows. Early iron age is from the first~middle part BC 4c to BC 100. And the latter half of Bronze age is from BC 6c to the front appearance of ironware. Then Songguk-ri type(松菊里式) becomes staudard type of pottery in the middle stage of Bronze age.