Details about the owner of Silla tomb 44 unearthed

The Silla Dynasty (57 B.C. to A.D. 935) tomb No. 44 at Jjoksaem in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, is the resting place of a girl aged around 10 with a height of about 4 foot 2 (130 centimeters). She wasn’t just any girl but presumed to be a ...

An aerial view of tomb No. 44 at Jjoksaem in Gyeongju, which has been turned into a Jjoksaem Excavation Hall to allow public viewing. [YIM SEUNG-HYE]

GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang -- The Silla Dynasty (57 B.C. to A.D. 935) tomb No. 44 at Jjoksaem in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, is the resting place of a girl aged around 10 with a height of about 4 foot 2 (130 centimeters). She wasn’t just any girl but presumed to be a princess of Silla, inferring from the excavated relics that were buried together with her in the unique tomb, known as the stone-mounded wooden chamber.

The Gyeongju National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage (Gnrich) concluded the research it has been conducting at the tomb since 2014 and announced the results on Tuesday.

“For the first time in our history, we were able to comprehensively learn about the entire structure and construction process of Silla kingdom's stone-mounded wooden chamber through tomb No. 44 at Jjoksaem,” Choi Eung-chon, head of the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA), said during a preview of the excavation results at Gyeongju's Seorabol Cultural Center Hall on Tuesday.

Choi Eung-chon, head of the Cultural Heritage Administration, presents the excavation results at Gyeongju's Seorabol Cultural Center Hall on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

The preview was held for the press and some 100 pre-registered members of the public. Choi, who usually wears a business suit in public, appeared onstage at the community center wearing a bucket hat, Indiana Jones vest and cargo pants to give off a bone hunter vibe.

“We are also pleased to discover for the first time a fabric mudguard decorated with flower-shaped gilt-bronze ornaments made using jewel beetles' wings,” said Choi. “It’s indeed a significant work that shows off Silla's exceptional craftsmanship and demonstrates the true value of their brilliant artistry."

Reimagined version of the mudguard decorated using jewel beetle ornaments excavated from tomb No. 44 at Jjoksaem in Gyeongju. [GNIRCH]

The iridescent wings of the jewel beetle, a member of the Buprestidae family, were historically used as embroidery for textiles. Such emerald-green beetle-wing decorations symbolized high status in India during the Mughal period (1526-1756), with Western traders in India introducing it to Europe in the late 18th to early 19th centuries. But long before that, during the Silla Dynasty, this form of surface decoration was used in Silla to signify high status.

Gyeongju, the former capital city of the Silla kingdom, is known for its mountain-like burial mounds. These mounds, constructed as wooden chamber tombs within a stone mound, are a unique burial style that occurred during a specific stage of Silla’s state formation. There are about 2,000 of these mounds in the city and only a few have been excavated for research.

A decade ago, when it was decided to excavate tomb No. 44 at Jjoksaem for research, the CHA and the Gyeongju City government decided to open it up to the public as an observatory instead of fencing it off. People could stop by the Jjoksaem Excavation Hall, located near the touristy Daereungwon Tomb Complex, and witness with their own eyes how the excavation is carried out inside a tomb.

Jeong In-tae, a researcher from the Gyeongju National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage said the institute had no choice but to excavate tomb No. 44 and conduct research as the tomb was “deteriorating day by day.”

What Jeong and his colleagues did not know was that No. 44 would be such a treasure trove, providing “so much important data for future research.”

“The only downside of building an observatory on the site is that the researchers had to work every day, rain or shine because we had a roof over the tomb. Usually, when we are excavating a site, we don’t work on rainy days,” said Jeong, chuckling. “Because of tomb No. 44’s unique condition, such as the corpse being submerged underwater for hundreds of years, we were able to excavate a lot of organic matter that usually decomposes over time.” There were no remaining human bones, however.

Inside a large burial mound measuring 23.1 by 30.8 meters in length and width, some 780 relics have been excavated. One of the most significant discoveries, according to the institute, is the fabric mudguard, or a saddle flap, whose surface is decorated with hundreds of gilt-bronze ornaments created with jewel beetle wings.

Jewel beetle, a natural monument [JOONGANG PHOTO]

Jewel beetle ornaments excavated at Tomb No. 44 at Jjoksaem in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang. Bright-colored ones below are their replicas made for reference. [GNIRCH]

Gilt-bronze ornaments made using jewel beetle wings attached to different types of fabrics and a woven bamboo frame was excavated from tomb No.44 at Jjoksaem in Gyeongju. [GNIRCH]

Back in 2020, when the institute revealed some of the discoveries made inside the tomb site, it did not know what the ornaments were used for. But on Tuesday, it revealed that the two pieces of fabric mudguards decorated using jewel beetle wing ornaments were placed on the left side of the tomb owner’s head.

“A total of 50 flowers with four petals each are on each of the mudguards, so about 400 jewel beetles would have been caught to create this sophisticated piece of fabric,” said Sim Hyeon-cheol, a researcher from the institute. The jewel beetle is registered as a natural monument as it is currently in danger of extinction in Korea, with Sim adding the insect would have been common in large numbers during the Silla Dynasty, but was only used to decorate the possessions of Silla's royal family due to its exquisite beauty.

Saddle flaps that are usually found inside Silla tombs feature cheonma, or heavenly horse, which is a mystical creature in Korean folklore.

“That is why this discovery of a saddle flap fabric decorated with gilt-bronze ornaments made using emerald-green jewel beetle wings is significant,” Sim said.

There had been discoveries of jewel beetle ornaments from the tombs of Silla's highest-ranking officials, such as the south tomb of Hwangnamdaechong, Geomgwanchong and Tomb No. 14 in Gyerim-ro, but never in fabric form for a mudguard.

A trace of fabric was discovered on the remnants of the gilt-bronze crown and it was revealed that the fabric was wrapping several strands of hair. [GNIRCH]

Another surprising discovery is hair. In 2020, a trace of fabric was discovered on the remnants of the gilt-bronze crown, which was excavated from the area where the princess’s head would’ve been. The institute on Tuesday revealed that the fabric was wrapping an organic matter which was revealed to be several strands of hair.

“We could not conduct DNA analysis using the hair because it was so old but the discovery of hair from a Silla-era person is significant in itself,” Sim said.

Other unearthed relics include a gilt-bronze crown, a pair of gold pendants and earrings, various gold and silver jewelry as well as a chest ornament. Also among the findings were 50 pieces of mica, a mineral that was believed to be an ingredient for youth and longevity in Taoism. There were also 200 pieces of black, gray and white Go stones and a knife with silver decoration. Researchers from the Gnrich said they were also able to excavate remnants of fabric, such as hemp and silk, around gilt-bronze products such as gilt-bronze crowns and gilt-bronze shoes.

A piece of gilt-bronze shoes that were excavated at the site. The remnants of the shoes were found above the tomb owner's head. [GNIRCH]

“This discovery marks the first time a significant amount of fabric has been found as actual materials, and they are expected to serve as important data for future textile research,” said Sim.

Based on the accessories and the knife with the silver decoration, mostly carried by women during Silla, Sim and his colleagues presume that the tomb was built in the late 5th century.

Sim also added that they were able to find out that the tomb’s owner was buried together with about four to six others as a human sacrifice.

“We are careful in saying this, but there are traces of human sacrifices surrounding the tomb’s owner,” said Sim. “Silla banned human sacrifices to accompany the dead in the year 502 so it is highly likely that the princess was one of the last few to be accompanied in this manner.”

Jjoksaem Excavation Hall will continue to be open to the public to exhibit the excavated relics as well as research results.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]