朝鮮時代土壙墓調査方法에 대한 一考

Abstract

With the recent rapid increase of large-scale excavations, archaeological remains dating to the Joseon Dynasty have begun to be investigated and examined. In this context, studies on burials of the Joseon Dynasty have frequently been conducted. However, from a methodological point of view, studies on the pit tombs of the Joseon Dynasty have not been able to overcome the perceptions of the previous studies. With regard to this, this article briefly examines points of caution for each step of investigation during the preliminary and main excavation of Joseon Dynasty pit tombs. First of all, during preliminary excavation, pit tombs of south-facing slopes require preliminary investigation by installing a trench regardless of the nature of their preservation or the difficulty of excavation. This is because in the Joseon Dynasty, the head of the corpse was oriented in a northernly direction. Meanwhile, the exact identification of the soil strata of the burial feature is required, since problems may occur when this information is lacking or not explicit. Secondly, requirements for each stage of investigation during excavation were examined as follows. The process of removing the earth that covered the archaeological feature, and identifying the outline of the feature must be undertaken with care. In particular, effort must be put into identifying the traces of a mound structure. When investigating the soil strata, it must be observed whether a characteristic U-shaped sink is present. This is because this may confirm the use of a wooden coffin tomb in the absence of more direct evidence, such as reinforced soil, coffin nails, and timber. The use of a wooden coffin tomb may provide insight into the social position and class of a corpse. If the location of excavated artifacts are explicitly described in the reports of further investigations, a more varied range of studies may be carried out on the data. In conclusion, this article, which has been based on the trials and errors that took place during the investigation of features and artifacts of the pit tombs of the Joseon Dynasty, was prepared so that misunderstandings and misinterpretations would not be repeated. It is hoped that the article will allow us to fully understand the basic and essential investigation methods of Joseon Dynasty pit tombs so that much information on these archaeological remains may be gathered.