Gwangnyeong Dolmen No. 2

Dolmens (jiseokmyo, also called goindol) are the representative tombs of the Bronze Age, generally known to have been the tombs of a ruling class with economic wealth or political power. Dolmens in Korea are divided into three types: the table type, in which four supporting stones are erected to form a stone chamber with a huge, flat capstone placed on top; the go-board type, in which a stone chamber is built underground with small supporting stones, over which a capstone is placed; and the capstone type, which resembles the go-board type but lacks supporting stones. This dolmen, in Gwangnyeong-ri, Aewol-eup, Bukjeju-gun, is of the capstone type, in which stone slabs serve both as supporting stones and as the walls of a stone coffin, with the burial chamber set above ground. The supporting stones are well-dressed rectangular slabs 0.7–0.8m high, set identically on the east, west and south sides. The north side is open, without a supporting stone; this seems to be because, after the body was inserted from the north, a supporting stone was fitted in afterward and so came loose easily. The capstone resting on the supporting stones is 2.5m long and 2.05m wide, and on its upper surface a single, faint cup-mark (seonghyeol), made to pray for a good harvest or for children, can be seen. Inside this dolmen, numerous fragments of plain coarse pottery and Gimhae-style pottery were excavated, found, as with other dolmens, mostly near the supporting stones.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jeju City, Jeju

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물