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🇰🇷 South Korea /Culture & Society

Rare 1,600-year-old Baekje tools unearthed at Chungju fortress

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Outcome reported
  • Archaeologists found Korea’s oldest known straw basket, an iron axe with its wooden handle intact, and a cattle nose ring at Jangmisanseong fortress in Chungju.
  • The artifacts came from a fifth-century Baekje wooden water reservoir and are rare or unprecedented finds at ancient sites on the Korean Peninsula.
  • Excavations also identified Baekje construction techniques, pottery, plant remains, and animal bones that shed light on life at the fortress.

A straw basket made from willow branches, believed to be more than 1,600 years old, has emerged from the ruins of Jangmisanseong fortress in Chungju, South Korea. Baekje people likely used it to carry grain or soil.

Researchers also recovered an iron axe with its wooden handle still attached and a cattle nose ring believed to have been used with oxen that transported supplies inside the fortress. The basket and nose ring are considered the earliest examples found in South Korea, while the complete axe is described as the only known intact example of its kind from an ancient Korean site.

The artifacts came from a fifth-century wooden water reservoir in the fortress. The square structure measured about 6.7 meters on each side and was about 1.8 meters deep. Builders shaped chestnut and oak timbers more than seven meters long, then fitted them together in nine interlocking layers.

Even extending through the Unified Silla period, this is the only case where such a well-preserved wooden storage facility has been found.

— Choi Kwan-hoThe National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage researcher described the preserved wooden reservoir.

Researchers removed nearly 90 tons of sediment from the reservoir and washed it to recover small artifacts and organic remains. Their analysis identified more than 50 cultivated and wild plant species, including rice, red beans, and soybeans, along with bones from cattle, pigs, dogs, and softshell turtles.

The excavation also found traces of a fifth-century Baekje rammed-earth wall beneath the stone wall believed to date from after the sixth century. Baekje-style central pottery and lacquerware indicate that the site served as a regional base supported by central technology and labor. The investigation has been under way since the second half of 2022 as part of a long-term project involving South Korea’s heritage authorities, North Chungcheong province, and Chungju.

It shows the water-resource management system of the time and the high level of civil-engineering technology.

— Choi Kwan-hoChoi assessed the significance of the wooden reservoir at the excavation site.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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