'Haman Angoksanseong' Designated as a Cultural Asset by Gyeongnam Province

Unique to Aragaya, Construction Using the 'Toseok Honchuk' Method

Angoksanseong Fortress in Haman-gun, Gyeongnam has been designated as a cultural asset of Gyeongsangnam-do.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Se-ryeong] The An-gok Mountain Fortress, a major fortress site in the Gaya cultural zone, located in Haman-gun, Gyeongnam Province, was designated as a cultural asset of Gyeongnam Province on the 16th.

An-gok Mountain Fortress is a narrow and long terraced mountain fortress built at the summit of An-gok Mountain, which is 343 meters above sea level, located in Hoesan-ri, Chilseo-myeon, Haman-gun.

A terraced mountain fortress refers to a fortress built around a mountain peak, and An-gok Mountain Fortress is a double-walled fortress (복곽성, Bokgwakseong) consisting of inner and outer walls with a total circumference of 1,231 meters.

Located at the eastern end of the Araya Gaya territory and overlooking the Nakdong River and the southern region of Changnyeong, An-gok Mountain Fortress has been known as a military strategic fortress built to defend against invasions from neighboring powers such as Silla.

Haman-gun conducted the first excavation survey of An-gok Mountain Fortress from 2017 to 2018 as part of the Gaya cultural zone investigation and maintenance project.

Subsequently, in 2021 and 2022, it was selected for the Gyeongnam Province Gaya cultural asset investigation and research support project twice, and excavation surveys were conducted on the inner wall section. Currently, surveying and trial excavations are underway to confirm the exact range of the fortress walls.

The investigation revealed that the fortress was constructed in the late 5th century, the heyday of Araya Gaya, using a mixed earth and stone construction method (토석혼축, Toseok Honchuk).

Inside the fortress walls, a civil engineering technique was confirmed that used wooden pillars and stone foundations together to disperse vertical pressure from above and prevent collapse.

A military official stated that this construction method can also be seen in the large burial mounds of the Haman Malsan Burial Mound Cluster and is a unique civil engineering technology of Araya Gaya to overcome geographical disadvantages and build sturdy structures.

An-gok Mountain Fortress is a special case of applying burial mound construction techniques to fortress building and is highly valued as important material for the study of ancient fortresses, leading to its designation as a provincial cultural asset.

Gyeongnam Province plans to promote the designation of other Gaya relics as provincial cultural assets, including the pottery kiln cluster in Ugori, Beopsu-myeon, Haman, the shell mound in Dabang-dong, Yangsan, and the Soori Burial Mound Cluster in Hapcheon, which have recently been revealed to have new academic and preservation value through scholarly investigations.

A military official said, “The designation of An-gok Mountain Fortress as a provincial monument brings us one step closer to a three-dimensional restoration of Araya Gaya history,” and added, “We will do our best to systematically preserve the fortress and establish maintenance plans based on additional investigations and results in the future.”

Park Seong-jae, Director of the Provincial Culture, Tourism and Sports Bureau, said, “We can now systematically preserve and manage important Gaya fortresses whose historical value was not properly recognized until now,” and added, “With the full implementation of the Historical and Cultural Zone Maintenance Act, these will be utilized as important resources for the restoration of Gaya cultural history.”

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