North Korea has unearthed a large Koguryo mural tomb dating back to around the fifth century, a development archaeologists say will shed fresh light on folk culture, customs and cultural exchanges in ancient East Asia.
The research teams found mural paintings and more traces on the ceiling and walls of the tomb, which consists of a passage, approach, front chamber and its two annexes, connecting passage, and back chamber.
It was the first time that Japan and North Korea had conducted full-scale joint academic research. It was also the first discovery of a mural tomb from the center of the former Raknang region of the Koguryo dynasty, which ruled from the northern part of the Korean Peninsula to the southern part of northeastern China from the latter part of the first century B.C. to A.D. 668.
North Korea plans to designate the tomb, an underground-style earth-covered stone tomb, a national treasure and file an application with the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for it to be recognized as a World Heritage site.
If all the murals are identified, the tomb will likely become as valuable as the Tokhung-ri mural tomb, a World Heritage site in Nampho, in providing historical material, according to Japanese experts.
The Kyodo team included Professor Masahiro Saotome, an archaeologist at the University of Tokyo, and Shigeo Aoki, a Cyber University professor specializing in the preservation of historic remains.
"The discovery is significant because the tomb was unearthed in an area where experts believed there would be no Koguryo mural tomb," Saotome said.
Saotome believes the interior was decorated with magnificent mural paintings, and said the tomb may have belonged to a man who wielded considerable power in the Raknang region.
"The tomb will provide a precious source of material for the study of history, cultural exchanges, paintings, folk culture and customs in ancient East Asia, including Japan," he said.
The Tongsan-dong mural tomb is located on a hill about 4.5 kilometers southeast of central Pyongyang. It was discovered in October last year during housing construction.
The rectangular-shaped front chamber measures 2.4 meters by 2.1 meters and is 3.3 meters high. It has an arched ceiling with three layers of triangular props. There is one robbery hole respectively on the northern and western walls of the front chamber.
The back chamber, which is squarish, measures 3.36 meters by 3.28 meters and is 3.4 meters high.
The ceiling of the back chamber was broken when builders carrying out ground leveling for construction removed a water tank that happened to have been placed on the tomb.
A mound covering the stone chambers -- about 8 meter high and 35 meters in diameter -- was also preserved with alternate layers of lime, char and clay.
During the excavation, the North's Academy of Social Sciences unearthed the bones of a man and those of two women. One woman is believed to have been the man's wife and the other his concubine.
The academy also excavated pure gold petal-shaped ornaments, domed ornaments, nails for coffins, porcelain and earthenware. There was also a celadon candlestick, the first to have been found in North Korea.
Source: Kyodo News [August 14, 2010]