Daegu Bullo-dong Ancient Tombs

The Bullo-dong Ancient Tombs, the first in the country to be designated as a cultural property among ancient tombs, consist of about 200 large and small tombs. They are adjacent to the Geumho River basin and are distributed on the eastern hill at the point where the road from Bullo-dong to Palgongsan meets the Gyeongbu Expressway. The tombs typically have a diameter of 15–20m and a height of 4–7m. Their internal structure involves stacking four walls with stream stones or broken stones, covering them with flat and wide stones to form a rectangular stone chamber, and then placing gravel and soil on top. Grave goods include gold or gilt-bronze ornaments, iron weapons, and pottery with patterns, among many other excavated items. These tombs are generally believed to have been built around the 5th century during the Three Kingdoms period and are presumed to be the collective tombs of the indigenous ruling powers that dominated this area.

The Bullo-dong Ancient Tombs best preserve the external form among existing tombs in the Daegu area and have many tombs densely concentrated in a small area, offering a glimpse into ancient society. They also serve as valuable evidence that similar power groups were scattered in places like Naedang-dong, Bisan-dong, and Bullo-dong within the Daegu basin. The location of the Bullo-dong tombs on hills, the internal structure built with broken stones similar to stone mound tombs, and the excessively narrow and long stone chambers indicate a connection to the mid-Nakdong River region. However, the forms and quality of the artifacts resemble those of Silla, revealing the complex cultural aspects of the local powers.