A Preliminary Report on Excavations at the Gongju Tanji-ri Side-Chamber Tomb Cluster

Abstract

A cluster of 23 side-chamber tombs was discovered at the Gongju Tanji-ri site on the Korean peninsula. Preservation was extremely good and the tomb structure was clear. The grave goods and human skeletal remains were fully preserved. This site is an extremely important find for understanding not just the structural characteristics and chronology of side-chamber tombs on the Korean peninsula, but also the problems, long discussed in Japanese archaeology, of the origin of the side-chamber tombs of the Japanese archipelago and ancient Korea-Japan relations as a whole.
A rough date for the side-chamber tomb construction can be obtained from the typological features of pottery and other objects used as grave goods. From the typology of bowls with fitted covers (futatsuki) and tripods, it can be concluded that side-chamber tombs were built during the early half of the Paekche Yushin phase (late 5 th century).
The structural characteristics of the Gongju Tanji-ri side-chamber tombs are similar to the early side-chamber tombs of the Japanese archipelago which are distributed across northern Kyushu at sites such as Takenami, Yukuhashi City, Fukuoka Prefecture and Uenoharu, Oita Prefecture. These date from the late 5 th to the early 6 th centuries and have quite a few Peninsula-type grave goods. These are important materials for lifting the veil that has so far surrounded the origins of the side-chamber tombs of the archipelago. The excavation of the Gongju Tanji-ri site gives us the opportunity to consider further the possibility that side-chamber tombs originated in the Paekche region.