Discovery of Ritual Facilities from the Daegaya Period over 1,500 Years Ago in Goryeong, Gyeongbuk

Yeonjoli Stone Altar

With permission from the Cultural Heritage Administration (Administrator Kim Hyun-mo), Goryeong-gun, Gyeongbuk Province (Governor Kwak Yong-hwan) is conducting an excavation of the ‘Goryeong Yeonjori Tumuli Cluster (Tombs No. 1 and 2),’ where a ritual facility of Daegaya has been discovered. The excavation site will be open to the public on the 16th at 10:30 a.m.

Based on the characteristics and attributes of the unearthed artifacts, the ritual facility is estimated to have been constructed in the early 6th century. It is a soil and stone altar (Toseok Jesan) structure made by stacking stones on the outside and filling the inside with soil. The lower tier is circular, and the upper tier is square (rectangular). The overall remaining size of the facility is about 10 meters in diameter and 1 to 1.4 meters in height. The lower tier is a flat circular shape with a diameter of about 10 meters, with only parts of the north and west sides remaining stable by aligning relatively large broken stones (Halseok) outward.

Although there are no direct records of Daegaya’s state rituals, it can be inferred that Daegaya also held state or power group rituals based on records of Silla’s state rituals in the Samguk Sagi and the Silla stele (Sillabi) records that mention cattle being slaughtered for major ceremonies.

The Yeonjori ritual facility discovered this time is not in very good condition, but it is the first confirmed ritual facility in the Gaya cultural zone, including Daegaya, and is a highly valuable material that empirically proves the existence of Daegaya’s state rituals, which were not recorded in historical documents. Additionally, a point presumed to be a ritual facility related to the Goryeong Jisan-dong Tumuli Cluster, the central tumulus cluster of the Daegaya royal capital, has also been identified, raising expectations that this will serve as an opportunity to clarify the reality of Daegaya’s state rituals.

At the upcoming site open briefing session, the ruins of the ritual facility and the unearthed artifacts will be exhibited and explained to experts and local residents.

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