Numerous Bronze Items Excavated from Earth Pit Tombs at Wŏnjang-dong Site
A tomb believed to be that of a chieftain buried circa third to second centuries BC at Wŏnjang-dong in Chŏnju, North Cholla Province, has been excavated. A large number of Bronze Age artifacts were also unearthed, supporting these estimates.
The North Chŏlla Institute of Cultural Heritage, specializing in the investigation of buried cultural heritage, stated that five earth pit tombs from the early Iron Age were excavated on the south-western slope near the top of a hill in Area 16 since last June, as a result of the investigation of historical sites in Wŏnjang-dong, Tŏkchin-gu, Chŏnju, which is part of a construction site.
An earth pit tomb is a burial type consisting of a pit dug into the ground, into which a wooden coffin is placed.
As a result of the investigation, two bronze mirrors, two bronze daggers, two pommel fittings of a bronze dagger, 17 tubular jades, and two jade rings were found inside the remains of a wooden coffin in tomb no. 1. A bronze dagger axe, three bronze daggers, one bronze dirk, one bronze axe, and one pommel fitting for a bronze dagger were also unearthed outside of the coffin.
In addition, a slim bronze dagger and a long-necked burnished black jar were excavated in earth pit tomb no. 2, while a triangular stone arrowhead, a slim bronze dagger, a pommel fitting, and a long-necked burnished black jar were found in tomb no.3. Further, attached-rim pottery with a rounded lip was discovered in earth pit tomb no.4, and a slim bronze dagger, a bronze dirk and long-necked burnished black jar were found in earth pit tomb no.16.
A researcher with the North Chŏlla Institute of Cultural Heritage stated that archaeological features similar to those found at the Kaltong and Sinp’ung sites in Wanju have also been found within a radius of one kilometer of the Wŏnjang-dong site. This indicates that a political power that received advanced culture had existed in the Wŏnjang-dong region.
Choi Wan-gyu, a researcher at the institute, expects that the various bronze artifacts discovered at this site would provide archeological data that would make possible the reconstruction of the social organization of the political group that took this site as its spatial center.
Original news story (Yonhap News) reported by Kim T'ae-sik( taeshik@yna.co.kr )
6 September 2011.
A newspaper article (in Korean) is here.