This paper explores the buried subjects of the ancient tombs at Geumamsan Mountain, located in Hanam City, Gyeonggi Province.
Although Hanam has received attention as one of the capitals of Baekje, the absence of any discovery of Baekje-related remains or artifacts in places such as the Hanam Iseongsan Mountain Fortress, Gyosan-dong building remains and Cheonwangsa Temple site has damaged the credibility of the said assumption. However, a Hanseong Baekje-style stone chamber tomb was found in a recent public housing site development in the Gamil District. The significance of the ancient tombs distributed across the Hanam region is very crucial in understanding the burial culture of Baekje, Goguryeo, and Silla-lasting through the Unified Silla era to the Goryeo period.
Although no excavation surveys have been conducted at Geumamsan Mountain and Gaeksan Mountain, they are highly valuable in terms of their scale and form. By organizing the relics and construction methods through a survey of the ancient tombs at Geumamsan Mountain and comparing them with relics and methods for nearby burial sites, as well as grafting and comparing the results from 13 excavation surveys at the Iseongsan Mountain Fortress, this paper describes the architects of the tombs' construction and their characteristics.
As mentioned earlier, Geumamsan Mountain's ancient tombs are part of a large-scale complex of old tombs believed to house approximately 100 remaining stone chamber tombs and stone-lined tombs. Despite earlier claims that they were Baekje tombs, a closer examination of unearthed relics and tomb structure made possible through excavation surveys has confirmed that the excavated stamp-design earthenware, yugaehap (a pottery used to store objects), extravagant bronze and iron ornaments, and jade ornaments date back to the 7th or 8th century. In addition, unlike the ancient tombs in Seokchon-dong and Gamil-dong, the ancient tombs at Geumamsan Mountain exhibit characteristics different from those found during the Hanseong Baekje period in terms of the installation location of the tomb passage, construction method used for the stone walls, location, and excavated relics.
As for the number one stone chamber tomb investigated during the first survey at the Geumamsan ancient tombs, the construction method used to build the stone wall and the tomb's vault-like shape bore similarities, although the central location of the tomb passage and the typical stamp-design earthenware of the Unified Silla period attests to their differences.
Regarding the location, the construction of the tombs at the summit of Geumamsan Mountain-approximately 200m above sea level-is different when compared to the location of those buried in ancient tombs in Seokchon-dong, Bangi-dong, and Gamil-dong.
When initially considering the buried subjects in the ancient tombs of Geumamsan Mountain, the author confirmed information regarding people who used to live in the Iseongsan Mountain Fortress. Notably, there were no tombs of long-time dwellers in the area around the Iseongsan Mountain Fortress.
Given that Geumamsan Mountain is directly accessible from the west gate of the Iseongsan Mountain Fortress, the author has given suggestions regarding locational aspects. Additionally, from an examination of the relics-including ondol facilities (Korean traditional heating system) and pit dwellings excavated inside the Iseongsan Mountain Fortress-, it can be said that they show a similar chronology to those unearthed in Geumamsan Mountain's ancient tombs. Moreover, after considering the dwelling types and excavated relics confirmed through excavation surveys in Chungung-dong Village located below the Iseongsan Mountain Fortress, it is believed that those buried in the ancient tombs at Geumamsan Mountain were not only people who had lived in the Iseongsan Mountain Fortress, but also those who had lived in nearby villages. This assumption suggests that the tombs had been in use for a long period, from the Silla era to the Unified Silla period.