경주 南古壘 성격 재검토

Abstract

This paper reexamines the function of the earthen mound, called Namgoru (South High Mound), located in the southeastern part of the modern city of Gyeongju. Some Japanese researchers recognized and investigated this earthen structure since the late 1920s. A Japanese architecture historian, Fujisima, put forward an idea that this may have been a bank built for the purpose of protecting Gyeongju city from the flood caused from North Stream. Other Japanese historians argued that this may have been a fortress. Although the earthen wall was designated as Korean National Historical Site in 1936, not many Korean researchers have paid attention to it. In 1972, a Korean archaeologist argued that this was not a bank but an outside fortress in association with an inside fortress located in downtown Gyeongju. In 1973, a part of this structure was excavated by Korean archaeologists, while they were investigating Silla burials in front of King Michu Tomb. They also considered this earthen mound not as a bank but as a fortress. Another archaeological excavation was conducted by Gyeongju National Research Institute in 1993. Based on exposed features such as a masonry structure and a puddle, they explain the function of the mound. Although they mentioned a possibility of a bank, they did not rule out the possibility of a military defensive wall either. Recently a couple of more archaeological expeditions were conducted against the earthen wall. They argued that it was a fortress based on a feature assumed to be a base for a gate. Thus, the function of the structure turned out to be still a hot debating research topic. By combining the historical and archaeological records available, I made a conclusion that the mound was not a fortress but a bank.