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Additional royal tombs found in Baekje Historic Areas

Posted September. 21, 2016 07:26,   

Updated September. 21, 2016 07:48

한국어
Ancient royal tombs have been found in the Baekje Historic Areas that was added to the list of the UNESCO World Heritage List in July last year.

The Cultural Heritage Administration has confirmed that two out of four tombs that were written in the document made under the Japanese colonial rule were royal tombs after a trial digging in the west of the Baekje Historic Areas. Three tombs that did not exist in the record were also discovered.

A total of 15 tombs were found in the Baekje Historic Areas after three excavations – in 1915, 1917, and 1937 – under the Japanese colonial rule. After two additional ancient tombs were discovered in 1965 and 1966, the Areas was said to have 17 tombs.

The four tombs, which were confirmed in the test digging, are based on the 1917 report of the Japanese colonial rule. According to the report, there were four ancient tombs equivalent to royal tombs in the west of the Areas. Two out of the four tombs were excavated during the colonial rule. The recent study rediscovered one tomb that was found in 1917 and another one that was newly excavated.

The two tombs are stone cave tombs that are 15-20 meters in diameter. They are surrounded by burial protection stones that were found in other Baekje royal tombs, and pieces of a wooden coffin and gilt bronze nails were also discovered along the path from the entrance of the tombs to the room where the remains are located. The wooden coffin was made of an umbrella pine tree. Coffins made of the expensive tree are often found in royal tombs including the Royal Tomb of King Muryeong.

Both tombs keep the original form in many aspects including their shape, burial protection stones, a pit for a coffin, and a stone chamber. The Cultural Heritage Administration sees that it could identify the size of the royal tombs of Baekje and construction methods. “We plan to study and excavate five additional tombs," said Yeo Hong-gi, a cultural heritage office in Buyeo. "We plan to unveil them to the public three years later."



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