6th-century golden earrings of Goguryeo discovered in Chuncheon

A pair of golden earrings of Goguryeo were discovered from Jungdo, Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. It is unusual that a powerful aristocrat’s golden rings were found in the outskirt of Goguryeo.

The Cultural Heritage Administration said on Wednesday, “We discovered a pair of thick golden earrings as well as one small stone-lined tomb in the second area for investigation in Jungdo, Chuncheon.”

The pair of golden earrings found in the north of the tomb are 4.5 centimeters long and consist of center rings, subrings, connecting rings, frills, and round-shaped ornaments and weight-shaped ornaments. The center rings are 1.8 centimeters in diameter and 1.4 centimeter in width and subrings are oval-shaped with 1.4 centimeters in diameter and 2.1 centimeters in width. Frills consist of 14 small rings.

The earrings are similar to the golden earrings of Goguryeo from Anhak-dong in Daeseong district, Pyeongyang, and Sangbongri in Cheongwon, North Chungcheong Province, the research team said. However, as their frills, round-shaped ornaments and weight-shaped ornaments are more sophisticated and bigger, they are estimated to have been made in the late 6th century.

The grave where the golden earrings were buried has a pit which is 3.2-meter long and 2.6-meter wide. The pit is lined by stones and filled with broken stones. The floor of the grave is covered by 5 to 7 centimeter stones to support a dead body. A part of a leg bone discovered in the south of the grave almost turned into earth.

As around 1,400 graves and residential areas of the Bronze Age were found in the past, it is likely to stir controversy over the development of the Legoland amusement park. The second investigation, which started in March this year, also confirmed a residential area of the Bronze Age and dolmens and a farmland of Three Ancient Kingdoms.

sukim@donga.com