Archaeological Site in Jindong-ri, Changwon

The Jindong-ri site in Changwon, located around 130 Jindong-ri, Jindong-myeon, Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, was discovered during a land readjustment project. Excavation revealed the largest Bronze Age communal burial ground found in Korea to date, with large dolmens and stone-lined coffin tombs (cist tombs) excavated in groups. The dolmens are circular or rectangular in plan, and large adjoining burial precincts form clusters over a wide area measuring 500 m in length and 150–200 m in width. Forty-one cist tombs were investigated, distributed in four small burial groups of two to five tombs each. The excavated artefacts include polished stone daggers, stone arrowheads and plain pottery sherds. Dolmen No. 1 of Group A has a burial precinct and burial chamber, although whether it originally had a capstone is unknown. Its circular precinct is large, about 20 m in diameter, and is bordered by a jugu, a water-filled perimeter ditch. Inside the precinct, a first mound was built up with small pebbles, over which blackish-brown clayey soil was piled again, its surface finished with a covering of stones, and an above-ground burial chamber was placed at the centre of the precinct. The scale and form of the burial precincts show that the status enjoyed in life by those buried in the dolmens differed markedly from that of those buried in the cist tombs. The scale, form, structure and characteristics of the dolmen and cist tomb groups thus shed light on the emergence of early states in Korea and on the social status and kinship of the community, and their cultural character resembles that of Bronze Age sites in north-eastern China. The site is therefore regarded as extremely important for future comparative research into the flow, tradition and origins of this culture. Note: the site's name was changed from Archaeological Site in Jindong-ri, Masan to Archaeological Site in Jindong-ri, Changwon (notified 28 July 2011).

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Changwon, Gyeongnam

Designation

Historic Site · 사적