Construction of dolmens

Overview

Dolmens (jiseokmyo) are the representative tombs and monuments of the Bronze Age, consisting of a large capstone that rests on supporting stones above ground, with a burial facility beneath it. According to the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, dolmens on the Korean Peninsula began to be built around 1200 BCE and continued to be made for about one thousand years, until around 200 BCE.

The map marker is placed at Juknim-ri and Dosan-ri dolmen groups in Gochang, Jeollabuk-do, a representative site. The start and end years are approximate ranges based on radiocarbon dating and similar evidence.

Types

• Table type (northern type): A form in which a broad capstone is placed on a burial chamber built of four slabs. It is common mainly north of the Han River and is also distributed in Liaodong.
• Go-board type (southern type, base type): A form in which a thick capstone is placed on low natural supporting stones. It is found south of central Korea, concentrated especially in the Honam region.
• Capstone-only type (covered type): A form without supporting stones, in which the capstone directly covers an underground burial chamber. It is the most common.
• Perimeter-stone type (Jeju type): A form in which the edge of the capstone is surrounded by slabs, characteristic of dolmens on Jeju Island.

Number and Distribution

• It is estimated that about 40,000 dolmens exist across the Korean Peninsula. Of these, more than 22,000 are concentrated from Gochang to the Jeolla region, the densest concentration.
• For comparison, about 750 are known in Liaoning Province, China, and about 600 in Kyushu, Japan.
• They are concentrated along the western coast and the banks of large rivers, and are rare on the east coast.

Periodization

Based on grave goods and more than 100 radiocarbon dates, the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture organizes the periods as follows:

• Early (around 1200–900 BCE): The period when construction began.
• Middle (around 800–400 BCE): The period of greatest prosperity.
• Late: Declined and disappeared around 200 BCE.

Construction Methods

The greatest task was quarrying and moving the capstone. Traces show that stones were split off by inserting dry wood into cracks or grooves in the bedrock and pouring water on it to make the wood expand. For transport, Y-shaped wooden sledges and log rollers are presumed to have been used, and when raising the capstone, methods such as building a ramp of soil or rubble or stacking logs in a jeong (井) pattern have been proposed. Handling stones weighing tens of tons required organizing and mobilizing many people, so dolmens are interpreted as evidence of the existence of leaders or communities able to command labor.