The purpose of this study is to identify the types of Pottery excavated from Goryeo tombs in Gyeongnam and to determine their characteristics through chronological classification.
Pottery, along with porcelain, is one of the mainstays of ceramics fr...
The purpose of this study is to identify the types of Pottery excavated from Goryeo tombs in Gyeongnam and to determine their characteristics through chronological classification.
Pottery, along with porcelain, is one of the mainstays of ceramics from the end of the Unified Silla to the Goryeo. However, as mentioned earlier, research on pottery has not been as active as that on pottery. Therefore, the researcher chose this topic because he thought it was necessary to thoroughly study the concept and development stage of pottery before explaining pottery. The direction of the topic was prepared after summarizing the history of pottery research and identifying the current circumstances. The subject of this paper Goryeo pottery, and the researcher expanded the previous research on pottery found in tombs and studied pottery found in Goryeo tombs in Gyeongnam.
Depending on the researcher, the term pottery is used as pottery, earthenware and others. For the purpose of this study, pottery refers to hard and soft vessels fired at high temperatures above 1000°C. In general, pottery is mainly unglazed, but some glazed pottery has been excavated. Thus, the scope of pottery is defined to include a variety of glazed and unglazed wares.
Chapter II examined the current conditions and artifacts of these sites, focusing on those where ceramics were excavated from Goryeo tombs in Gyeongnam. To describe the sites, the researcher comprehensively examined the natural environment, location, and characteristics, as well as the artifacts buried in the same period, such as the types and quantities of pottery under study. As a result, 131 artifacts from 36 sites were found.
In Chapter Ⅲ, the pottery excavated from the burial sites identified in Chapter Ⅱ was examined to determine which types of pottery were commonly buried together in the burials. The most common type identified was the bottle, which accounted for 132 of the 150 ceramics. Therefore, the type classification was done through detailed attributes centered on the bottle, and a total of six types were derived. When divided into periods, they were classified as Early (10th-11th centuries), Middle (12th-13th centuries), and Late (late 13th to late 14th centuries).
In Chapter Ⅳ, the researcher examined the transitional process in the ceramics excavated from Goryeo tombs in Gyeongnam based on the details of Chapters II and III. The early period is characterized by the discovery of ⅠAa and ⅠAb pottery types and sea mist bowls (haemuri-gupwan) as artifacts buried in the same period. The middle period is characterized by the discovery of the ⅠAa, ⅠAb, ⅠB, ⅡAa, and ⅡAb forms, especially the ⅡAa and ⅡAb types, which were found in various forms, including the position of the copper diameter, the shape of the bell, the shape of the appearance, and the technique of inscribing patterns on the pottery. In the later period, the ⅠAa, ⅠAb, ⅠB, and ⅡB types were found, especially the ⅡB type is found buried together in royal tombs mainly in Gyeongnam.
A characteristic feature of the pottery from Goryeo tombs in Gyeongnam identified by this study is the difference in the types of artifacts buried together. In the late Goryeo, jars were commonly buried together in Gyeonggi-do, while Chungcheong-do had a similar ratio of jars and ⅡB-type bottles. In Gyeongnam, the proportion of ⅡB bottle burials was higher than that of jar burials. The ⅠAa and ⅠAb bottles are also characterized by a small number of finds in Chungcheong, most of which are found in Gyeongsang-do. Among them are bottles with inscriptions on fragments of pottery.
The researcher also examined blue celadon buried at the same time and found that celadon and pottery were complementary in structure. Through the aspects mentioned earlier of the burials, this study was able to relate them to the tea culture of Goryeo and demonstrate the structure and meaning of the Goryeo grave goods.