A Siru(Steamer) is a vessel that cooks the cereals by steam from the holes of the bottom. The controversy to the use of the ancient steamer is divided into two positions. The first position is that steamer is manufactured by special purpose to make fo...
A Siru(Steamer) is a vessel that cooks the cereals by steam from the holes of the bottom. The controversy to the use of the ancient steamer is divided into two positions. The first position is that steamer is manufactured by special purpose to make foodstuffs for ritual ceremonies. The second position is that it is used as usual vessel for the everyday life. That means the subject is related to decide whether ancient main dish were folk cake('Dduck:떡') or soup('Jook’:죽).
Therefore, in order to understand by what purpose the ancient people used the steamers(in Three Kingdoms Period, particularly Baekje and Koguryo near Han River basin), the dissertation adopts ethnoarchaeological approaches .
First, In chapter Ⅱ, the basic shape of steamer including ancient and modern one as shapes, holes on the bottom and grips are examined.
Generally, whereas Baekje steamers have horn - shaped grips, round or flat bottom, and circular holes or a circle hole around triangle(half circles) holes in the bottom, Koguryo's have band - shaped grips, flat bottom, and large circle holes. In spite of these different forms, the basic purpose of steamers is the same in both polities as the cooker
In chapter Ⅲ ~ Ⅳ, the contexts of among steamers, other potteries(potteries for boiling liquid : 煮沸用器) and structures(hearths : 爐 and houses : 住居) from 160 settlement features in 17 archaeological sites of Koguryo and Baekje near Han River are investigated.
It has been excavated 12 Baekje settlement sites such as Ponngnaptosung and Misari, 5 Koguryo sites such as Achasanboru and Guidong. Whereas Baekje sites comprise different scales such as capital, village, castle, and so on, Koguryo sites composed of merely fortresses for military campaigns. That is the base Koguryo invaded Baekje and occupied the Han River basin in the 5th century A.D.
Then, in artifacts, the analysis to the frequency of distribution between steamers and other boiling potteries in settlement features represent that the ratio of steamers are much lower than boiling potteries'. In hearths, 'Buttunacs' are most suitable features for using steamers. But Not all steamers were used in Buttunacs. With respect to the shapes and dimensions of houses, the house shapes were not related to appearances of steamers, but in the dimensions, it is considerably correlated with the distribution of steamers in that the higher the frequency is appeared in accordance with the width of houses. Consequently, It is possible to think that steamers were not used for daily life.
In chapter Ⅴ, when the volumes of each steamers were calculated by P. Rice's method, they covered a range of roughly 6 ~ 20ℓ. If each person consumes 150grams(165㎖) of rice for a meal, the steamers cook for 36 ~ 121 persons. That implies the steamers could offer the considerable diets to a number of people.
Then, What cases could the steamer be used? In chapter Ⅵ, there are examinations about the use of steamers with written records(including 『Samguksagi(三國史記)』, 『Samgukyusa(三國遺事)』, 『Samgukji(三國志)』, etc) and murals of the old tombs of Koguryo. Through these records and wall paintings, there are analogies that steamers were generally used for public seasonal or ancestral rituals. Or, they could be used for emergency rations by soldiers doing military actions like a long distance march.
The steamers were special vessels in Three Kingdoms Period, and this is similar in modern times. Investigating folklore data, folk cakes('Dduck') with steamers are made and used for 'special events' like seasonal(歲時風俗) and passage(一生儀禮) rites.
By this time, synthesizing the use of ancient steamers by archaeological, philological, and folkloric investigations, the steamers were thought of special vessels in ancient and modern times. Then, how could the ancient people supply the ritual foods? It is possible to think that they would prepare only foods made with steamer and sacrifices(the whole or the part like head or legs of pig, ox, deer etc). That is, in the table of early ritual, there might be a steamer held folk cake and a head or legs(or the whole) of sacrifice.
By now, the way to use the steamers in Three Kingdoms Period was considered. In the future, there will be active controversies and examinations about ancient life in archaeological, and ethnic fields.