미륵사지 출토 백제시대 암막새 연구

Abstract

The findings from excavation of the Mireuk Temple site confirmed that a good variety of concave tiles were used. Among those, A-type ones are believed to have been manufactured during the era of the Baekje Kingdom. A-type tiles have been unearthed not in the central area of the temple but mostly in its outer circles including the lake, particularly on its northern slope in a mass. This area belongs to the stratum where the tiles used at the foundation of Mireuk Temple were scrapped in the wake of expansion of the temple compound during the age of the Unified Silla Kingdom. However, few remains from the Unified Silla Kingdom era are seen here except for convex tiles with 6-leaf univalve lotus design together with stamped-roof tiles as well as green-glazed tiles at the edge of eaves that were used at thefoundation of Mireuk Temple. In terms of designs, the three-pronged heart-shape leaf found among A-type concave tiles is similar to that found in the outer Sarira Containers made of gold-plated copper excavated at the site of the western pagoda of Mireuk Temple and almost identical with the pattern seen from the gold-lidded vessel for Sarira unearthed at the five-story pagoda site of Wanggung-ri. They showed the same pattern with the simple heart-shaped pattern of the convex tiles and green-glazed tiles unearthed together at the site. Some clues of difference from the tiles of the Baekje era are found in the concave tiles connected with the roof end in that circular frame for tiles, lantern-type patterns and base soil are used. It must, however,be noted that circular frames had already been used in the Baekje Kingdom era and started to reveal signs of change in the lantern design of convex tiles during the similar period. Some sort of heterogeneity may only be attributed to different manufacturing location or different manufacturer. From the above review of the stratum of excavation, pattern elements and connected concave tiles excavated from the Mireuk Temple site, it becomes known that concave tiles with patterns at the edge of eaves were invented and used for the first time in the Baekje Kingdom era.