• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.246-259
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• 2021

Research has been conducted in various fields on a local fortress (eupseong) in the Joseon Dynasty, but the archaeological research on the prison (獄), which is part of the internal government, has not been conducted properly. Since the prison was first discovered in Gyeongju in 1997, there has been a necessity for research on the deployment and structure of the prison. This includes the office where jailers worked and had night duty and also the enclosure that keeps the prisoners inside. But the research came to a standstill because there was no comparative data. However, compared to the more recent findings of the Yeonil Prison and the Gonju Prison, we can identify that the structure was built during the early to the late Joseon Dynasty. King Sejong designed the standard prison blueprint called Anokdo (犴獄圖) in 1426 to manage prisoners nationwide and revised it once in 1439 to give better treatment during the winter and summer seasons. The Yeonil Prison operated from 1421 to 1743 and shows the structure of the prisons during the early to mid-Joseon period. It was very similar to the Gyeongju Prison on a smaller scale, which was operated until the late Joseon Dynasty with two main structures, one east and one west, and a circular fence. This structure was maintained even in the Gongju Prison during the late Joseon Dynasty, and it remains visible in photographs. The prison of the Joseon Dynasty had a circular fence with an estimated height of 3 meters and two buildings that separated male and female prisoners. The prison was divided into men on the east and women on the west with tile-roofed house structures that were difficult to escape. In front of the circular fence, there was an office with a thatched roof for the jailers and access to the prison was only possible through a double prison gate. The layout of the building reflects the improvements of the king's prison design made during Joseon Dynasty improving the environment of prisoners who are on trial and separating men and women in order to embody humanism.