Secrets of the Nungsan-ri Tumuli in Buyeo Revealed... Today’s Goyu-je Ceremony

An excavation survey will be conducted at the Nungsan-ri Tumuli Cluster in Buyeo (Historic Site No. 14). The Cultural Heritage Administration’s National Buyeo Cultural Heritage Research Institute and the National Buyeo Museum will hold a Goyu-je (告由祭) ceremony today (the 23rd) at 2 p.m. at San 15-5, Nungsan-ri, Buyeo-eup, Buyeo-gun, Chungnam Province. Goyu-je is a ritual performed to inform the spirits of the reason before the excavation survey begins. It announces the start of the excavation to the Baekje kings and the surrounding spirits and prays for the safety of the research team.

The Nungsan-ri Tumuli Cluster is the royal tomb site from the Sabi period of Baekje. It consists of seven tumuli arranged on the southern slope of Nungsan-ri Mountain. They are arranged in two rows of three tumuli each, front and back, with one more tumulus located 50 meters behind to the north. It was first introduced to academia in 1915 when Japanese researchers Kuroita Katsumi (黑板勝美) and Sekino Sadamu (關野貞), affiliated with the Joseon Government-General Museum, conducted an investigation. Korea National University of Cultural Heritage surveyed four tumuli in the western cluster for two years starting in 2016, securing data on the location and formation process of the tomb group as well as remains of foundation buildings.

This time, the central royal tomb cluster will be investigated for the first time. The National Buyeo Cultural Heritage Research Institute previously conducted underground geophysical surveys in the central burial area and the southern entrance. Based on this, it is estimated that the arrangement of the tumuli grouped in pairs and the size of the burial mounds were larger than the currently restored and maintained size of about 20 meters. Starting with a trial excavation, a mid- to long-term academic investigation is planned. An official stated, “Based on the survey results, we plan to restore and maintain the appearance of the Baekje royal tomb park and the original form of the Baekje royal tombs.” They also said, “We will conduct an investigation of the coffin platform (관대, gwan-dae)?a low platform inside the tomb on which the coffin containing the body was placed?of the royal tomb-level tumulus (Tumulus No. 1), which has never been surveyed before.”