Gyeongju Daereungwon Ancient Tomb Complex

Gyeongju Daereungwon refers to the ancient tomb complex from the Silla period located in Nodong-dong and Hwangnam-dong, Gyeongju, consisting of the Nodong-dong Tombs, Noseo-ri Tombs, Hwangnam-dong Tombs, Hwangoh-dong Tombs, and Inwang-dong Tombs. The Nodong-dong Tombs are tombs from the early Silla period, including Bonghwangdae, Sikrichong, and Geumnyeongchong. Bonghwangdae has a base circumference of 230m, a diameter of 82m, and a height of 22m, making it the second largest tomb after Hwangnamdaechong, and it is a stone mound tomb with a wooden chamber. The Noseo-ri Tombs consist of 14 large and small tombs on a wide plain. Along with the Bonghwangdae tomb in Nodong-ri, they are notable, including Tomb No. 130 which forms a pair, Geumgwanchong where a gold crown was excavated in 1921, and Seobongchong, which was visited and excavated by Swedish Crown Prince and archaeologist Gustaf VI Adolf during his trip to Japan in 1926. In 1946, a bronze vessel inscribed with the name of Goguryeo's King Gwanggaeto was discovered, along with Houchong, Eunpyeongchong, Ssangsangchong, and Machong, which helped estimate the age of Silla tombs. Pottery fragments were excavated from Ssangsangchong, and horse bones and saddle fragments from Machong. The Hwangnam-dong Tombs are early Silla tombs, some within the Daereungwon area. They consist of 30 tombs built with circular earthen mounds. Large tombs are stone mound tombs with wooden chambers, and there are small tombs without burial mounds around them. Within Daereungwon, there are the presumed tomb of King Michu, Cheonmachong, and Hwangnamdaechong. Cheonmachong was excavated from April 6 to December 4, 1973. It has a diameter of 47m and a height of 12.7m, yielding many artifacts including a gold crown. Because a saddle flap with a painting of a celestial horse (Cheonma) was excavated, it was named Cheonmachong and its interior is open to the public.

The Hwangoh-dong Tombs are densely clustered with large and small Silla-era tombs. Due to long-term neglect, many burial mounds have been damaged, but about 10 can still be identified as tombs. Based on the structure of tombs excavated in adjacent areas, these are presumed to be stone mound tombs with wooden chambers, mainly from the 4th to 5th centuries, for royalty or nobility. The Inwang-dong Tombs are the easternmost among the tomb groups remaining in the central plain of Gyeongju. During the Japanese colonial period, 13 earthen mound tombs were identified, and an additional 10 tombs were found to be distributed. Some of the tombs were excavated, revealing tomb styles from the Samhan and Three Kingdoms periods, indicating that tomb construction began early. The Three Kingdoms period tombs with remaining burial mounds are mostly stone mound tombs with wooden chambers, and based on the excavated artifacts and the size of the remains, they are presumed to be tombs of Silla nobility.