An excavation project in Hwangnam-dong, Gyeongju, South Korea, recently uncovered a group of tombs buried beneath another tomb, which itself was discovered in 2020. Sim Hyeon-cheol, a researcher at the Gyeongju National Institute of Cultural Heritage and a history professor at Keimyung University, told reporters. Journal of Archeology “Many early wooden chamber tombs may be buried under the Gyeongju Daeseokgao Tombs.”
The newly discovered complex was also built for Silla generals and has six burial chambers. The Korean Heritage Administration revealed the contents of one of the rooms: centaur armor, a sword, a crown, teeth and “the body of a man with his legs spread.”
According to Heon-seok, the way the body was “splayed” in the side room indicated ShanzhuangIt is a Silla funeral ritual in which subordinates or family members are buried alive together with the deceased superiors. (shunzhuang It was banned in AD 502, around the middle of the reign of the Silla Dynasty. ) There is also a gold earring included in the open area of remains and armor, indicating that although this person was affiliated with the general, the object of sacrifice himself was of quite high status.
All that remains of the main occupant’s teeth is that he was a man in his 30s. Nearby is part of his crown. Kim Jae-yeol, a metalwork expert at the Korean Heritage Institute, told the Korea JoongAng Daily: “These crowns are similar to the gold and bronze ornaments of the Goguryeo Kingdom found in Ji’an City, Jilin Province, China. They appear to be part of a hat-shaped Silla crown.”
The restoration project of Hwangnam-dong has been ongoing since 2018 and aims to restore important sites of the Silla Dynasty. The tomb site, along with some of the 165 artifacts unearthed during the latest excavations, will be open to the public until November 1 as part of this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum hosted by South Korea.
