It is recognized that there was a nation of Mahan in the Basin of Miho River in the Proto-three kingdoms period, however ; the concrete investigations into structure, character and transformation of this Guk(國) have not yet been conducted.
Therefo...
It is recognized that there was a nation of Mahan in the Basin of Miho River in the Proto-three kingdoms period, however ; the concrete investigations into structure, character and transformation of this Guk(國) have not yet been conducted.
Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the structure and characters of the Guk(國) which existed in the Basin of Miho River in the proto-three kingdoms period and the transition of political power in this country. This work was carried out by analyzing materials about burials at the basin of Miho River in the Proto-three kingdoms period.
Burials at the basin of Miho River in the Proto-three kingdoms period have four types : Togwangmyo, Jugu-Togwangmyo, Join burial, and large-scale wooden-frame tomb. The difference in four burials is the hierarchical structure in social groups which formed the nation. The interior aspect of burial is that, the wooden coffin tomb(木棺墓) has six types and the wooden-frame tombs(木槨墓) has five types. The wooden coffin tomb(木棺墓) and most of the wooden-frame tombs(木槨墓) were set inside a hole for tombs(墓壙) and wooden-frame(木槨). It seems the space beside the structure was used to keep remains such as pottery.
The Jugu-Togwangmyo ranges inland to the midwest and include the basin of Miho River, and basically it is considered to be different from Bungumyo, which ranges West. Its formation period was from the early 3rd century to the early 4th century and after that, it disappeared even though there is little difference between Guk-eup(國邑) and Eup-nak(邑落). It is thought that Jugu-Togwangmyo was the burial tomb of the upper layer in society because it is larger than Togwangmyo which does not have a Jugu.
The Hapjangmyo(couple’s tomb) had the basic characteristic for burying married couples in the same grave. It is classified into two types, the Donghyul-hapjangmyo and the Ihyul-hapjangmyo. The Ihyul-hapjangmyo is divided into two. Type I was formed by the later burial that destroyed the former burial’s wall and type Ⅱ was formed by standing in a row at regular intervals. Type Ia, Hapjangmyo, has cons: Donghyul-hapjangmyo's true history was in Northwest Korea(Lo-rang commander), but type Ⅱ mainly ranges in the basin of the Miho River in the Midwest and Jin․Beonhan region in the Yeongnam area. It is hard to find traces of typeⅡ burial in Northwest Korea, but the case was found in tomb remains of the Yousunohasim middle class of Buyeo. This proves appearance of type Ⅱ burial in the basin of the Miho River and Jin․Beonhan region. Hapjangmyo in the basin of Miho River is judged to appear from the end of the 3rd century to early 4th centuries and it seems to be the burial for the upper class because of its size and remains.
Looking into the features and characters of the excavated remains, first the combination of earthen pots, in the case of Songduri remains that are regarded as early or middle 2nd century, were identical with those of earthenware of the Yeongnam area. After that, the combination of short-necked jars and deep bowl pottery were buried during the 3rd and 4th century. On the other hand, there were changes in production and design of the pots. The ratio of stoneware increased from the 3rd century to the 4th century and case in burying foreign models increased with diversifying models. This change seems to display a process of development in political structure, as well as the technical advance of manufacturing pots, however; differences in models between burials is confirmed. It is thought that the manufacture and distribution of pots was practiced with a village as a unit.
Also notable is the fact that harnesses were buried with horse-shaped buckles in 4th century. The harness included bits and stirrups (mainly bits) and its technique is diverse. The appearance of harness in the basin of Mino River in 4th century demonstrate an influx and development phase of horse riding culture as one of the materials showing the transition of political power. The trace of harnesses originated in Northeastern districts, Seonbi, Buyeo and Imperial Goguryeo, and it is considered to have been introduced throughout Northwest Korea. The horse-shaped buckles were distributed from inland south of the Han River to the inner zone traffic route so it is regarded as archaeological data proving that there was trade throughout inland route.
The force which grew in succession at the stage of Jung-guk(衆國) was the main power of the country in the basin of Miho River and including the influx power from the Northwest Korea region. The structure of nation consisted of Guk-eup(國邑), which was the main village, and Eup-nak(邑落), whose size seemed to be 30km in diameter. Eup-nak(邑落) was composed of the main settlement and many individual settlements and a large-scale tomb, in which burial of the head class was confirmed. The stratified society had four degrees.
Looking at the change of the political power after the end of the 3rd century, the high class' burial changed from Jugu-Togwangmyo to large-scale wooden-frame tombs, and looking at recent advent burials, Hapgangmyo, it seemed to be developed through trading with Northwest Korea in this time. Based on this, being the Guk-eup power center, foreign trade throughout inland routes were active and played a notable role. Also, the Cheongju Jeongbukdong fortress which was structured the same as China's(漢代) square-shaped fortress, is thought to be a fortress constructed based on political development at this period in the basin of Miho River. This political power in the Basin of the Miho River is judged to be incorporated into Baekje’s ruling system according to Baekje’s influence, which became strong after the middle of the 4th century.