Ancient Tombs in Bannam, Naju

Bannam is a place where an ancient culture flourished along Sampogang, a tributary of the Yeongsangang River. Centred on Jamisan Mountain, some 40-odd ancient tombs are distributed across Daean-ri, Sinchon-ri and Deoksan-ri. First excavated and brought to light during the Japanese colonial period, this tomb cluster has yielded large earthenware jar coffins found nowhere else, along with gilt-bronze crowns, gilt-bronze shoes, and ring-pommel swords decorated with a phoenix design (hwandudaedo) — a range of artefacts attesting to the status of supreme rulers. Jar-coffin tombs are a burial style unique to the Yeongsangang River basin, distinct from the stone-mound tombs of Goguryeo, the stone-chamber tombs of Baekje, the stone-mound wooden-chamber tombs of Silla, and the stone-lined tombs of Gaya. In earlier examples, the ground was dug slightly and the jar coffin set half-buried before a low earthen mound was raised over it; in later examples the mound was built first and then dug into at the top to receive the jar coffin, with the mounds also growing larger over time. The use of jar coffins as a burial form appears in various parts of the world, and in Korea it had been part of burial practice since the Neolithic period. However, there is no other example of large purpose-made jar coffins being used in this way, and the style is understood to have been perfected by the indigenous powers of the Yeongsangang River basin. Twelve tombs are distributed in the Daean-ri area, of which Tomb No. 9 is the largest in the Daean-ri cluster; nine jar coffins were found there together with a gold ring, a large sword, a copper bracelet, glass beads and pottery. Nine tombs are distributed in the Sinchon-ri area. Some of them, including Tomb No. 9, were excavated during the Japanese colonial period, when a gilt-bronze crown (National Treasure) and other artefacts — gilt-bronze shoes, a gold ring, a ring-pommel sword with a phoenix design, and a copper bracelet — were unearthed. A re-excavation of Sinchon-ri Tomb No. 9 in 1999 recovered 32 cylindrical clay vessels that had encircled and decorated the top of the mound. These cylindrical vessels share the character of the haniwa unearthed from tombs in Japan, and they provide an important clue for research into ancient exchange between Korea and Japan. At least 14 tombs are distributed in the Deoksan-ri area, and their main period of construction is thought to be similar to that of Sinchon-ri and Daean-ri, in the mid to late fifth century. Tomb No. 10, the latest of the Bannam tombs, is a stone-chamber tomb, believed to have been built after the mid-sixth century as Baekje power advanced into the region and the indigenous jar-coffin burial tradition disappeared.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Naju, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Historic Site · 사적