Excavation of Bongryong Tomb in Goheung Confirms New Construction Method

Reevaluating the Academic Value of Samguk-era Burial Culture in Dohwa-myeon, Goheung

[Goheung=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Shim Jeong-woo] Goheung-gun, Jeollanam-do announced that a new type of tomb construction method was discovered for the first time in the Honam region at Bongryong Tomb in Bongryong-ri, Dohwa-myeon, Goheung-gun.

This investigation was conducted as part of the "Mahan Relics Excavation Survey," an ancient historical and cultural project, under the Special Act on the Maintenance of Historical and Cultural Areas.

Although most of the Goheung Bongryong Tomb was looted and no burial artifacts were found, the application of a new form of tomb construction has attracted scholarly attention.

In particular, the burial chamber floor was constructed using the ‘mojureum technique,’ a stacking method where the sides converge upward, and a ‘doorstone’ was erected between the stone chamber and the burial chamber. The tomb was built with a basic structure of a pit-type stone chamber, featuring a horizontal passage on the side of the mound through which the body was lowered from above into the tomb.

Surrounding the burial chamber, a stone border was placed to prevent erosion of the mound’s soil and to separate the burial area from the outer boundary of the tomb, filled with large and small stones, which is a significant feature.

Additionally, the floor of the Bongryong Tomb’s stone chamber was neatly paved with tiles identical to those excavated from Baekchiseong (Jeollanam-do Monument No. 209), a mountain fortress from the Three Kingdoms period, suggesting a connection with the mountain fortress of that era.

According to related experts, this tomb construction method is a hybrid of Baekje, Mahan, Gaya, and Japanese tomb building techniques, and it is considered a new construction method unprecedented in the Honam region, including the Goheung area.

The Nara Cultural Research Foundation, which conducted the excavation, stated, “This investigation revealed the diversity of tomb culture in Goheung-gun and confirmed an important site that helps understand the active external exchanges in the Goheung area during the Three Kingdoms period.”

A Goheung-gun official said, “Currently, numerous unidentified tombs are distributed throughout Goheung. We hope that through excavation projects, local residents will take an interest in tomb preservation, recognizing Goheung as an open region that embraced diverse cultures, as seen in the tombs of the area.”

Goheung=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Shim Jeong-woo sevenshim@asiae.co.kr