"'Key to Gaya Culture' Hapcheon Samga Burial Mounds Designated as Historic Site"

Changes in Exterior and Accessories Items Reveal the Flow of Gaya Political Entities

The Hapcheon Samga Tumuli Complex consists of over 330 burial mounds and is a cluster of tombs located in the inland area of Gaya. It includes pit graves, wooden chamber tombs, pit-type stone chamber tombs, and stone chamber tombs with corridors, all constructed between the 1st and 7th centuries, allowing us to trace the evolution of Gaya tombs. Changes in the tombs' shapes and the types of burial goods also reveal the political dynamics of Gaya, making it highly valuable historically and academically.

On the 24th, the Cultural Heritage Administration announced that it would designate this cultural heritage, which indicates the changes in Gaya, as a nationally designated historic site. The Hapcheon Samga Tumuli Complex is believed to have been built by a powerful political entity based on the location of the tombs, the size of the burial mounds, the number of burial facilities for the bodies, and the types of burial goods. The Cultural Heritage Administration explained, "Through the distribution range of the so-called 'Samga-style tombs,' created from the mid-5th to mid-6th centuries, we can infer the scale and existence patterns of political entities in the inland region of Gaya."

Samga-style tombs are characterized by having multiple burial facilities within a single mound. For example, when adding a stone chamber, instead of building a separate mound, part of the existing mound was excavated and combined. The Cultural Heritage Administration stated, "The mounds were mainly expanded toward the upper ridge," and explained, "Through the repeated burial activities like this, many tombs with mounds about 5 meters in size overlapped and expanded within a short time interval." Similar types of tombs have also been found in the Yeongsan River basin. However, unlike the Hapcheon Samga Tumuli Complex, their structure, scale, and burial goods differ depending on the construction period.

Various pottery has been excavated from the Samga Tumuli Complex. These include ancient style earthenware, new style earthenware, ancient style glazed pottery, Sogaya-style pottery, and Daegaya-style pottery. Each carries characteristics of its respective era, indicating changes in Gaya culture. Earthenware is a somewhat soft pottery with a color similar to roof tiles. Ancient style was made in the 1st century BCE, and new style in the 2nd century CE. Ancient style glazed pottery, produced around the 4th century, has been found in many sites in the Yeongnam region. Representative types include tube-shaped footed plates, brazier-shaped pot stands, and handled cups. Sogaya-style pottery was mainly found in the western Gyeongnam areas such as Goseong and Jinju. Daegaya-style pottery was frequently discovered in the Goryeong and Hapcheon areas.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.