Excavation of Daeseongdong Tumuli, Gimhae

김해 대성동 고분군 발굴 金海大成洞古墳群發掘

 

 

Tomb No. 108  

 

 

A tomb of the ruling class, made in the Geumgwan Gaya Kingdom era 1,600 years ago, has been excavated in Gimhae, Gyeongsangnam-do Province, where the capital of this kingdom was located. 

 

The city-run Daeseong-dong Tombs Museum has been excavating 3,700 square meters of Daeseong-dong Tumulus Park in the center of the Gimhae city, the cemetery of the ruling class in the Geumgwan Gaya era, to find 19 wooden coffin tombs and 26 wooden outer-coffin tombs made during the era of the kingdom, said on the 3rd. 

 

 

A schematic diagram of the burial of three persons in the tomb of No. 108.

 

 

The wooden coffin tombs surveyed this time are similar in structure and scale to the other wooden coffin tombs in the area investigated to date, and furthermore, it was found that the coffins were placed in a long axis in the east-west direction. 

 

 

wooden box? from Tomb No. 108

 

 

Considering the relics, these tombs are thought to have been made around in the late 1st and 2nd centuries AD.

 

On the other hand, the wooden outer coffin tombs made in the late 3rd to early 4th centuries were found to have  woodeninner coffin and wooden outer coffins with long axes in the north-south direction. 

 

 

wooden box? from Tomb No. 108

 

Among them, Tomb No. 108 is noteworthy. Its upper part has been lost, but the floor or bottom has been found relatively intact. 

 

The tomb has a pit hole with 494 in length, 346 in width, and 60 centimeters in depth, wherein a 340×230 wooden outer coffin was placed.

 

 

wooden box? from Tomb No. 108

 

At a height of about 20-25 cm from the bottom of the tomb, the gray clay layer which was thought to have been formed by the wooden cover of the outer coffin has been confirmed. 

 

Relics from this tomb include 40 pieces of large iron bars (10×40 cm each), which are believed to have been used as real money at the time, and 130 iron and earthenware items, such as a ring-pommeled sword, arrowheads, and 17 pieces of earthenware, bronze bowls, and jade ornament necklaces, etc. 

 

 

relics from Tomb No. 108; a cylindrical bronze tube and a bronze arrowheas

 

 

The museum assumed that the tomb occupant was a female general or a noble warrior when viewed from relics such as a large sword and jade necklaces.

 

To date, traces of three people have been found in this tomb. It is presumed that the two were buried along the direction of the long axis of the tomb, and the one buried in the direction perpendicular to the two.

 

 

necklace and earthenware from Tomb No. 108

 

 

Two people lying side by side are considered to be married couples, and the other one is considered to be a victim for the two. 

 

 

김해 대성동고분군 제10차 발굴 화보

 

 

김해 대성동고분이 매몰한 금관가야의 편린

 

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For more information on  

Gimhae Daeseong-dong Tumuli
(Historical Site No. 341)

Tumuli of the kings and the ruling class of Geumgwan Gaya, on the hill nera Bonghwangtoseong Fortess.
Hub of maritime trade among Korea, China and Japan around the ancient Gimhaeman Bay.
Around 418-2, Daeseong-dong, Gimhae-si, Gyeongsangnam-do

Just as Gimhae was recorded in the ‘Samgukji (History of Three Kingdoms)’, the area corresponds to the gateway of the Northeast Asia sea route that passes the east and southern sea from the Nakrang and Daebang-gun to Japan. The major engines of growth of Geumgwangaya was international trade through sea and inland waterway. It is an evidence that the large amount of artifacts imported from China, and Japan are found in Gimhae Daseong-dong Tumuli.

Researches on Daeseong-dong Tumuli were conducted 9 times and 219 tombs were surveyed. Among them, 69 wooden outer-coffin tombs are estimated to be the tombs of the ruling class. In the 2nd century, wooden outer-coffin tombs were densely made near the hill. In the late 2nd century, wooden coffin tombs started to be constructed from the lower part of the northern side of the hill. From the early 3rd century, the tombs of elite class started to be constructed focusing on the ridge part of the hill. Daeseong-dong Tomb No. 29, which was constructed in the late 3rd century, has an accessory compartment for sacrificial burial. The floor of accessory compartment where the interred individual was laid over 100 iron ingots that are arranged in rows. The human sacrificial burial and large amount of artifacts imported from China, and Japan represents an emergence of exclusive royal(king) burial.

Along with the tombs of kings in the late 3rd century, the burial position was started to differentiated according to people’s societal class in Daeseong-dong Tumuli. In the 4th century, the tombs of kings started to be constructed along the ridge of the hill gradually and the small and medium tombs started to be composed on slopes. The best period of the Daeseong-dong Tumuli is during the 3rd ~ 4th century, where it is much bigger in mound size and amount of burial goods than other Gaya tumuli. During the early 5th century, the construction of the tombs of kings continued along with the tomb no. 1, but the power of Geumgwangaya becomes weak rapidly compared to the past. On the other hand, Daegaya and Aragaya powers started to grow. Daeseong-dong Tumuli stopped constructing tomb of royals in the late 5th century. The tomb no.73 is the lastly constructed horizontal entrance stone chamber tomb. Gimhae Daeseong-dong Tumuli is a core tumuli of former half of Gaya period. As stated above, Gimhae Daeseong-dong Tumuli has an important value that helps to understand the formation and growth of Gaya and the structure of Gaya society.