Gochang-Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen SiteBy : Riri Kusumarani

Korea Culture & History I, Prof. ChunGlobal ITTPSpring 2013

Table of Contents

• Introduction• Location• Function

What Is it?

• Dolmen Sites• Registered as UNESCO Cultural Heritage #97

on year 2000• important evidence of how stones were

quarried, transported and raised and of how dolmen types changed over time in northeast Asia

Dolmen?

• megalithic funerary monuments• Usually consisting of two or more undressed

stone slabs supporting a huge capstone• Provide information about the prehistoric

people who built them and their social and political systems, beliefs and rituals, and arts and ceremonies.

Functions• Funerary Monuments• Burial Chambers

Dolmens are usually to be found in cemeteries on elevated sites, to allow them to be seen from the settlements on lower ground of the people who built them

Location• 고창 군 , 전라북도 ; • 화순군 , 전라남도• 강화군 , 인천

Almost 40% of Worlds Dolmen is located in S.Korea, Specifically at these 3 sites

고창• Area = 8.38 ha• the largest and most

diversified group,• Around 440 dolmens of

various types have been recorded in this location.

• Gochang is considered to date from around the 7th century BC

화순• Area=31 ha• Around 500 dolmens

founded • Hwasun dolmens are a

little later, from the 6th-5th centuries BC

강화• The Ganghwa Dolmen Sites (12.27 ha) are on

the offshore island of Ganghwa, on mountain slopes. They tend to be situated at a higher level than the dolmens of the other sites and are stylistically early, in particular those at Bugeun-ri and Gocheon-ri.

Authenticity

• The dolmens possess authenticity of form, materials and location. Most of the dolmens have remained untouched since the time of their construction, their present condition being the result of normal processes of decay. Although a few have been dismantled by farmers their stones have survived intact and their original location and form can be identified without difficulty.