A Large-Scale Paekche Village Unearthed at Hwach'ŏn
Reports of the results of archaeological excavations indicate the possibility that Paekche had advanced as far as the Hwach’ŏn region in Kangwŏn Province by the third century A.D.
Aerial View of the Excavation
After investigation of a riverside alluvial area of 17,500 square meters at Wŏnch’ŏn–ri in Hanam-myon, Hwach’ŏn Prefecture (화천군 하남면 원천리), where plans to build the Lotus Housing Project (연꽃단지) were underway as one of the projects associated with the Four Rivers Project (on the Pukhan River), Director Chŏng Yŏnu 정연우 of the Yemaek Institute of Cultural Properties, an organization specializing in archaeological excavation, stated that the remains of a large scale village were found at this site, dating to the third century A.D. and possibly as early as the late second century (during Paekche’s Hansŏng Period, 18 B.C. – A.D. 475).
As a result of the excavation, 20 dwelling features and one stone coffin from the Bronze Age, 136 dwelling features of the early Paekche period, a number of associated pit features, and several ditches also dating to the Paekche period have been unearthed at this site.
Pit-dwelling Feature
At the briefing session held at the site, the research group reported that they had investigated 42 dwelling features of the Paekche period and 34 pit features, and that the Paekche-period pit-dwellings were shaped like the character 呂 in layout.
The majority of the larger rooms of these 呂-shaped dwellings, which served as a primary living space, were hexagonal in layout, and in the center of their rear portions, almost without exception, was a cooking stove, a typical feature of the Paekche residence.
The majority of the dwellings were badly disturbed by modern and pre-modern agricultural activity. But in one dwelling, called dwelling pit No. 5 by the excavation team, carbonized logs and planks, driven into the earth and spaced closely to form a wall, along with roof rafters, were discovered intact.
A variety of ceramic artifacts were recovered from this site, including hard-fired Mumun pottery (kyŏngjil mumun t’ogi 硬質無文土器), pots and jars with a paddled surface (t’analmun t’ogi 打捺文土器); deep bowl-shaped pottery (simbalhyŏng t’ogi 심발형토기), elongated pottery (changnanhyŏng t’ogi 長卵形土器), and earthenware steamers.
In particular, the black burnished pottery (hŭksaek mayŏn t’ogi 黑色磨硏土器), which many scholars consider representative the origin of Paekche pottery, was also discovered in various shapes, including lids and pots. In producing this type of pottery, the black color is applied while gently smoothing out the face with a tool such as a pebble.
Excavation Site
Among the black burnished pottery vessels unearthed this time, one found in dwelling pit No. 5 is an especially fine product with O- and U-shaped patterns densely arrayed around the shoulders of the vessel.
Sim Chaeyŏn (심재연), the director of this excavation, states that a comparison with black burnished pottery vessels recovered from other sites shows that the vessel found at the present site is most similar to specimens recovered from the Karak-tong cemetery in Seoul. He added that intermediate results of the preservation process have tentatively suggested that the black color of the vessels is produced by spreading a mixture of soot and lacquer on top of a lacquer base.
Professor Choi Byonghyun (최병현) of Soongsil University, a member of the Direction Committee, says that considering the detailed patterns on the pottery surface and the outstanding production techniques employed in its manufacture, the vessel may be assumed to have been distributed from the political center of Hansŏng Paekche to a regional center.
The excavation team stated that the Wŏnch’ŏn-ri site represents a large-scale settlement on the upper reaches of the Pukhan River basin, and that the nature of the dwelling pits and artifacts excavated show the importance of this site as an indicator of Hansŏng Paekche’s advance to the upper reaches of the Pukhan River.
The Direction Committee generally agrees, based on the artifacts recovered, that a preliminary estimate indicates that the site was used principally in the third century, though it is possible that it was first settled in the late second century and occupation of some dwellings continued down to the fourth century.
The discovery in Hwach’ŏn of a large-scale third-century village site bearing the characteristics of Paekche culture may lend a measure of credibility to the historical record describing the advance of Paekche to Chuyang (believed to have been in the modern Ch’unch’ŏn region) as early as 6 B.C., during the reign of its founding king, Onjo.
Lee Kon Moo (이건무), Director of the Cultural Heritage Administration (문화재청), also visited this site, and said with regard to the disposition of the site that he would take appropriate measures taking into consideration the thoughts of the Direction Committee and the decisions of the Cultural Properties Committee.
Black Burnished Pottery Vessel
Original news story (Yonhapnews) reported byKim Taeshik (taeshik@yna.co.kr)
15 September 2010.
A newspaper article (in Korean) is here.