Large-Scale Storage Facilities Discovered at P'ungnap Walled Site
The National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage (Director, Kim Ponggŏn) reported the findings from its fifth excavation of the P’ungnap walled site, Section 197 (formerly called the Mirae Maŭl Section; section 6 in the map below).
Newly excavated are approximately 100 features, including dwelling sites from the Hansŏng Paekche (B.C. 18~ A.D. 475) period as well as a number of rectangular pits that appear to have been used as storage space, features hitherto undiscovered at this site; prior to the most recent discovery were found hundreds of various features such as north-south- and east-west-axis road features, a hexagonal dwelling site containing oracle bones, and the largest subterranean building site known from the Hansŏng Paekche period. These features allow for a more detailed understanding of the structure of the P’ungnap walled site, an erstwhile capital of Paekche.
The latest excavation project unearthed 88 pits, most of which are believed to have survived from the late Hansŏng Paekche period. In addition to the typical round-shaped pits found in this area, as many as 21 large and small rectangular pits, which are rarely found in other sites of this period, were discovered in this area alone.
These features appear arranged in rows, which signify organizational planning in constructing them. Of particular interest are three completely intact large-scale jars measuring more than one meter in height that were recovered from one of the rectangular pits. These pits are believed to have been intended for the storage of foods to be used in the palace or government office buildings in the adjacent Kyŏngdang Area at the site’s center.
Such features closely resemble those of the Kwanbung-ni site located in Puyŏ, thought to have been the palace site of Sabi Paekche (A.D. 538~A.D. 660). In this site as well, groups of wood-framed storage pits were found to contain large quantities of seeds of melons and other fruits. As such, the rectangular storage spaces found in the P’ungnap walled site can be thought of as the prototypes of the Sabi-period wooden compartment storage space. The connection between the two storage spaces is significant since it can yield a more thorough understanding of the internal structure and characteristics of the P’ungnap walled site.
Moreover, ditch features crossing both north-south and east-west are found around the cluster of rectangular pits; these ditches connect to previously unearthed east-west roads and to the ditch features found in the southern part of the Kyŏngdang area excavated in 1997.
If all of these features are of the same family, then they would combine to measure approximately 260 meters traversing the P’ungnap walled site from east to west. Since the current locus of excavation is elevated above the areas surrounding it, there is the possibility that the pre-existing roads on the uppermost stratum were leveled by later generations, there remaining only what might have been the drainage features of such roads. With all of the aforementioned taken into consideration, it can be hypothesized that the ditch features were those ancillary to roads and that such roads were constructed in order to divide the interior of the P’ungnap walled site into quadrants.
Also garnering interest are the Northern Wei (A.D. 386- A.D. 534) inspired lotus-flower-pattern roofing tile ends excavated in their pristine entirety. Excavated from the Paekche level of the site, they closely resemble the tile ends found recently in the Kyŏngdang area, connoting the production and use of such tiles after the diffusion of Buddhism to Paekche, which occurred in the late Hansŏng period.
That similarly patterned tile ends were also excavated from the Jianchun Gate 建春門 site in Luoyang City, as well as from Datong, the capital of the Northern Wei state, can serve as crucial data in re-constructing Paekche’s relations with the Northern Wei. In addition, this site also yielded a large quantity of Paekche-period artifacts, including a variety of ceramics, foundation-stone ornaments as well as bronze and gilt-bronze handles.
Moving forward, the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage plans to continue the excavation of Section 197 (encompassing 20,955 square meters) of the P’ungnap walled site until 2010, continuing with annual surveys of the designated “historic sites” within the P’ungnap walled site, which will contribute greatly to the unveiling of the treasure chest of Paekche history that is the P’ungnap walled site.A newspaper article (in Korean) is here.