The Onggwan of Bannam-myeon
In the Yeongsang River basin of southwestern Korea, hundreds of ancient tombs hold the remains of the leaders of the Mahan confederacy, a group of states that flourished from the 1st century BCE to the 3rd century CE. This region, particularly the area around Bannam-myeon in Naju, features a burial practice not seen anywhere else: entombment in massive earthenware jar coffins known as onggwan. These are not small urns; the largest jars are big enough to hold an adult human body, and the coffins were often made by joining two massive jars mouth-to-mouth.
The tombs themselves are large earthen mounds, some reaching over 40 meters in diameter and 10 meters in height. These mounds cover the jar coffins which contain bodies placed in a flexed, or bent, position. The consistent size of the jars relative to the bodies suggests a standardized production process for funerary wares. This unique burial style distinguishes the Mahan culture from the surrounding kingdoms of Baekje, Silla, and Goguryeo, which typically used stone or wooden chambers. The practice began with single jar burials but evolved into large mounds containing multiple jar coffins, indicating their use by the ruling elite.
Mahan Society
The contents of these jar burials show a complex and powerful society. Excavations have yielded many high-status artifacts. The most significant discovery came from Tomb No. 9 in Sinchon-ri, where a gilt-bronze crown was unearthed around 1917. This crown, designated a National Treasure of South Korea, is one of the earliest examples of its kind from the Korean peninsula and shows the existence of powerful local rulers who controlled the Yeongsang River area.
Alongside the crown, archaeologists found gilt-bronze shoes, swords with a complex ring-shaped pommel, gold rings, and glass beads. These grave goods, many of which are on display at the nearby Naju National Museum, display the power and wealth of the individuals buried within the mounds. The artifacts also show cultural exchange with other regions, including Baekje and even Japan. This unique funeral practice eventually declined as the Baekje kingdom expanded and absorbed the Mahan territories, replacing the local onggwan tradition with stone chamber tombs by the 5th and 6th centuries CE.