National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage Confirms Arrangement and Scale through Underground Geophysical Survey
Royal Tomb Layout Found Grouped in Pairs
Comprehensive Investigation of Dongha Tomb and Overall Trial Excavation Planned for Second Half of Year
The UNESCO World Heritage site, the Nungsan-ri Tumuli Cluster in Buyeo (Historic Site No. 14), has been found to be much larger than the restored and maintained scale.
On the 15th, the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage under the Cultural Heritage Administration announced that it conducted underground geophysical surveys at the Nungsan-ri Tumuli Cluster, the royal burial grounds from the Baekje Sabi period, confirming its layout and scale. Underground geophysical surveys are archaeological scientific techniques that measure changes in the ground’s properties using electricity, vibration, and other methods to determine the distribution of underground structures or buried cultural assets.
From 2014 to last year, investigations were conducted in the central and entrance areas of the burial grounds, revealing responses presumed to be hoseok (護石, stones surrounding the outer edge of burial mounds) around each mound. Based on this, the Cultural Heritage Research Institute stated, “The burial mounds of the Baekje royal tombs from the Sabi period are understood to have been constructed much larger than the currently restored and maintained diameter of 20 meters.”
The institute also confirmed that the royal tombs are arranged in pairs: Dongha-chong (lower east tomb) and Jungha-chong (lower middle), Seosang-chong (upper west) and Seoha-chong (lower west), and Jungsang-chong (upper middle) and Dongsang-chong (upper east). An official commented, “Since they are grouped in pairs, it is highly likely that the tombs of kings and queens were constructed together or that the tombs were prepared on a family basis.”
The Nungsan-ri Tumuli Cluster has attracted attention as a site showing the completed form of the Baekje Neungwon system (a royal family burial system referring collectively to ‘Neung’ for kings and queens’ tombs and ‘Won’ for the tombs of crown princes, crown princesses, and royal relatives). Notably, the Nungsan-ri Temple Site (Neungsa, a temple built around royal tombs) located on the west side of the tumuli cluster yielded the Baekje Gilt-Bronze Incense Burner (National Treasure No. 287) and the Stone Sarira Reliquary from the Buyeo Nungsan-ri Temple Site (National Treasure No. 288).
The existence of Baekje tumuli in this area was known even during the Joseon Dynasty. The 1757 map “Yeojidoseo” marked this place as Nungsan (陵山). The first excavations were conducted by Japanese researchers Kuroita Katsumi and Sekino Tadashi, but only brief descriptions and a few photographs remain, with no formal reports.
The National Buyeo Cultural Heritage Research Institute and the National Buyeo Museum plan to investigate the coffin platforms (Gwandae, flat or low platforms inside tombs where coffins were placed) inside Dongha-chong in the second half of the year. They also plan a full trial excavation of the central tumuli cluster in Nungsan-ri. An official stated, “If the chronological relationships between the tombs can be confirmed, it will be possible to clarify the owners of the Sabi period royal tombs, which have been debated, and the appearance of the Baekje late Neungwon.”
The Cultural Heritage Research Institute will provide a detailed introduction of the results of underground geophysical surveys conducted on major Baekje tumuli in the upcoming publication 'Archaeological Geophysical Survey VI,' scheduled for release in October.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
