Ancient Tombs in Imdang-dong and Joyeong-dong, Gyeongsan

On a hill facing west, more than ten tombs were found damaged on the surface before excavation began. In February 1982, Tomb No. 2 in Imdang-dong was looted, and important heritage objects — pure-gold earrings and ornaments, a silver belt, a curved jade (gogok) and a ring-pommel long sword — were about to be smuggled abroad when the authorities intervened, bringing the importance of the Imdang-dong tombs to public attention. To verify this, an excavation was carried out from July to December 1982, with all costs borne by Yeungnam University Museum. The ridge to the north of the area where the tombs are distributed was also excavated by the Yeongnam Institute of Cultural Properties, where many tombs of the Proto-Three Kingdoms period were likewise investigated. The tombs had originally been designated separately as the historic sites "Ancient Tombs in Imdang-dong, Gyeongsan" and "Ancient Tombs in Joyeong-dong, Gyeongsan", but on 28 July 2011, in view of their shared history and character, the two adjoining groups were combined and redesignated as the historic site Ancient Tombs in Imdang-dong and Joyeong-dong, Gyeongsan. The first tomb to be excavated was Tomb No. 2. A third of its earthen mound had already been destroyed, but it was investigated by the quadrant method. The mound had been carefully built up in a rounded shape using thin slabs of bluish stone, and the floor shows traces of having been partly compacted with earth and lime. Structurally it is a gourd-shaped tomb (pyohyeongbun) formed by joining two burials together on a north–south axis; in order of construction the southern burial was made first and the northern burial added afterwards. Each burial consists of a main wooden chamber and an auxiliary chamber; the main chamber was capped with a large flat granite slab, while the auxiliary chamber was covered with a wooden lid. After Tomb No. 2, Tombs No. 5, 6 and 7 were excavated in turn for comparative study; their mounds were built by the same method as Tomb No. 2, and they were of the multi-chamber type, with two or three mounds joined together. Once all three had been excavated, a total of fifteen burials were found, including one jar burial each in Tomb No. 5 and Tomb No. 7, and around Tombs No. 5, 6 and 7 surrounding stones were arranged in a circular or semicircular plan.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Historic Site · 사적