Special Exhibition Planned for the 'Return After 50 Years' of Artifacts Excavated from Sangbaek-ri Tombs in Hamyang

Armor excavated from the Sangbaek-ri Burial Mounds in Hamyang. [Image source=Hamyang County]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] A total of 199 artifacts, including armor, excavated from the Gaya period burial mound group ‘Sangbaek-ri Burial Mound Group’ in Hamyang-gun, Gyeongnam, have returned to their hometown after 50 years.

According to Hamyang-gun on the 7th, following the Cultural Heritage Administration’s decision in September to designate the artifacts excavated from the ‘Sangbaek-ri Burial Mound Group’ as national property, after discussions regarding the transfer of the artifacts previously stored at Dong-A University Museum, they were transferred to Hamyang Museum on the 3rd of this month.

The transferred items were discovered in February 1972 during the land leveling of farmland in the Sangbaek-ri area of Sudong-myeon, Hamyang-gun, and were urgently excavated over four days in March by Dong-A University Museum.

Although most of the site had already been heavily damaged by cultivation at the time of excavation, eight horizontal stone chamber tombs (橫穴式石室墳) from the Gaya period were uncovered, along with many burial artifacts including pottery. Among them were horse tack such as stirrups, scale armor (札甲), and plate armor (短甲).

Hamyang Museum had long-term loaned 12 items, including a large sword, to Dong-A University Museum, but following the Cultural Heritage Administration’s national property designation, it plans to directly exhibit the artifacts excavated from the Sangbaek-ri Burial Mound Group by replacing them with other artifacts in the future.

Designated as a national cultural heritage storage and management facility on December 13, 2016, Hamyang Museum currently stores and manages 2,090 artifacts, including those excavated from the site of the Hamyang Agricultural Technology Center in 2018.

A museum official said, “The transferred artifacts are currently stored in the repository,” and added, “We plan to conduct photography, fumigation treatment, and conservation treatment of metal artifacts before holding a special exhibition.”