Selected for Hapcheon-gun Buried Cultural Heritage Academic Excavation Activation Project ... Full Excavation Funding Support

Restoration Begins Through Investigation of Unregistered Gaya Sites at Jungandong Ancient Tombs, Forgotten Gaya History

Inside the ancient tomb in Jungsan-dong, Hapcheon [Image source=Hapcheon-gun]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongnam Province, and the Gyeongnam Research Institute announced on the 12th that the Jungsandong Tomb, an undesignated Gaya site, has been selected for the ‘2021 Academic Excavation Activation Project for Buried Cultural Heritage’ by the Korea Cultural Heritage Association.

Sponsored by the Cultural Heritage Administration and organized by the Korea Cultural Heritage Association, the ‘Academic Excavation Activation Project for Buried Cultural Heritage’ is an academic project that fully supports excavation costs for undesignated buried cultural heritage.

The targets are important undesignated buried cultural heritage sites with significant academic and historical value, with about two sites nationwide carefully selected and supported each year.

The Jungsandong Tomb in Hapcheon is divided into I and II. The Jungsandong Tomb I, which is being excavated this time, is an undesignated site located in Hasin-ri, Ssangchaek-myeon, and is a stone chamber tomb (石室墓) from the mid-6th century, the period of Gaya’s fall.

The tomb is only 5 km away from the Okjeon Tomb Cluster in Hapcheon (Historic Site No. 326), the central site of the Dara Kingdom and a Gaya tomb cluster currently being promoted for World Heritage registration.

Go Min-jeong, Director of the History and Culture Center at the Gyeongnam Research Institute, who jointly applied for the project with the county, said, “Although the Jungsandong Tomb suffered from grave robbery, the burial chamber, mound, and burial mound remain relatively well preserved. We expect that through the results of this academic excavation and comparative research with surrounding sites, we will be able to clarify the changes in the late Gaya period and the process of Baekje culture introduction.”

A county official stated, “Since the investigation and research of Gaya history was selected as a national agenda, investigations have been steadily conducted not only on important Gaya sites such as the Okjeon Tomb Cluster, Samga Tomb Cluster, and Seongsan Earthen Fortress, but also on undesignated sites such as the Soori Tomb Cluster and fortress sites. Through research and investigation of Gaya sites, we plan to properly restore the forgotten Gaya history of Hapcheon, which was the center of the Dara Kingdom.”

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