UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Korea: Gochang, Hwasun, and Ganghwa Dolmen sites

유네스코 세계 문화 유산 특집: 고인돌 편
Dolmens....are prehistoric stone graves built thousands of years ago during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. More than half of the Dolmens remaining in the world are found on the Korean Peninsula.
And that's what Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen sites represent. Our Lee Minyoung shows us the prehistoric dolmens - Korea's UNESCO World Heritage.
These monumental rocks are here not by accident nor by coincidence. They date back to the Neolithic or New Stone Age and the Bronze Age,... and they are prehistoric tombs called dolmens, built with large stones known as megaliths.
Dolmen in Korean is known as 'goin-dol' which means 'supported stone'.
And more than half of remaining dolmens around the world are densely concentrated in the Korean peninsula.
For that reason and for the value they hold, three major dolmen grounds in Korea have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2000, namely the Gochang, Hwasun, and Ganghwa dolmen sites.
"The three dolmen sites in Korea have an outstanding archeological value. They have been drawing a lot of attention from archaeologists worldwide because nowhere in the world dolmens can be found in such great density and variety."
Among the three, Gochan is home to about 4-hundred-50 dolmens, concentrated within a 1-point-8 kilometer radius.
Besides the sheer number of dolmens clustered in Gochan, the area is also characterized by uniquely-shaped dolmens, which have been classified as 'hybrid' types.
"Dolmens in Korea can be categorized broadly into three different types --- the table type, the go-table type and the stone-covered type. Here in Gochang, you can take a look at all three of them,...in addition to some dolmens that feature mixed elements of the three."
This dolmen is named after its table-like shape.
The grave is built with 4 to 6 stone stabs standing straight on the ground forming a stone chamber, and usually topped with a large capstone.
These dolmens, on the other hand, are shaped like a go-table or checkerboard type,...featuring a large covering stone on top of several footstones. The main characteristic of this type of dolmen is that the body is buried underground.
The most common type of dolmen, however, is the stone-covered type, which as the name depicts, is a grave covered with a capstone.
But besides these three, other forms of dolmen have been found in Gochang, which reflect the interaction and coexistence among various cultures.
"As you can see, a table-type dolmen is supposed to have a flat flagstone on top,...but instead, this hybrid dolmen features a large covering stone instead. This clearly shows that tribes with different funerary cultures coexisted together."
The dolmens in Gochang also vary in size.
"This is the largest Dolmen in the world. This enormous prehistoric tomb weighs nearly 3-hundred tons and stands five meters high. It remains a mystery how people were able to build a tomb of this size over 3 thousand years ago."
Experts assume that people of that time cut stones by making a hole on a large rock and placing a wooden stick in the crevice.
Continuously pouring water on the hole would have swollen up the wooden stick, eventually splitting up the rock.
"More than 3-thousand years have passed, but these dolmens are still standing to this day. The only way to explain this is that our ancestors had surprisingly advanced construction skills."
These monumental prehistoric relics contain the key to understanding how life was during the Bronze Age.
Dolmens are a world cultural heritage and hold a universal value that needs to be protected for not only all mankind,...but also for the future generations to come.
Lee Minyoung, Arirang News, Gochang.
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