경주 지역 지석묘 문화의 특징과 종말기의 양상

Abstract

This study set out to review tomb culture in the Gyeongju region during the Bronze Age, and also examine thepatterns of dolmens during their end phase. For these purposes, the study analyzed 18 tomb relics from the BronzeAge and nine from the early Iron Age. Gyeongju belongs to the Geomdan-ri cultural zone. Approximately 120 tombs from the Bronze Age havebeen excavated in the Gyeongju region. There are fewer tombs than dwellings in the region, which is a generalcharacteristic of the Geomdan-ri cultural zone. Although the number of tombs is small, the detailed structure ofthe dead body is varied. During the Bronze Age, tombs in the Gyeongju region were characterized by more prolificconstruction of pit tombs, dolmens with boundaries, and stacked stone altars than were the cases in other areas. There is a great possibility that the pit tombs in the Gyeongju region were influenced by their counterparts in thenortheastern parts of North Korea, given the spindle whorl artifacts buried at the Dongsan-ri sites. Dolmens withboundaries and stacked stone altars are usually distributed in the Songguk-ri cultural zone, and it is peculiar thatinstances of these are found in large numbers in the Gyeongju region as part of the Geomdanri cultural zone. Even in the early Iron Age, the building of dolmens with boundaries and stacked stone altars continued in theGyeongju region under the influence of the Bronze Age. A new group of people moved into the area, and theycrafted ring-rimmed pottery and built wooden coffin tombs. In the early Iron Age, new rituals performed in high places also appeared, and were likely to provide venues formemorial services for heavenly gods in town-center areas. The Hwacheon-ri Mt. 251-1 relic and the Jukdong-ri relicare ruins that exhibit the aspect of rituals performed in high places well. In these rituals performed in high places,a stacked stone altar was built with the same form as the dolmens with boundaries, and a similar rock to the coverstone of a dolmen was used. People continued to build and use dolmens with boundaries and stacked stone altarswhile sustaining the Bronze Age traditions, even into the early Iron Age, because the authority of dolmens wasmaintained. Some dolmens with boundaries and stacked stone altars, known as being Bronze Age in origin, wouldhave continued to be used in ritual practices until the early Iron Age. Entering the latter half of the second century B.C., wooden coffin tombs began to propagate. This was the timewhen the southern provinces, including the Gyeongju region, were included in the East Asian network, with thespread of ironware culture and the arrival of artifacts from central China. Around this time, dolmen culture fadedinto history with a new era beginning in its place.