Background of the Establishment of the Hwaseong Gian-ri Iron Production Workshop during the Proto-Three Kingdoms Period

The stratigraphy and pottery of Giani-ri suggest that this production site was established in four phases. In the period after the main residential area was established (Phase 1), a circular ditch enclosure was formed. This enclosure can be divided into the double-enclo-sure phase (Phase 2), in which the structure enclosed the entire site, and the triple-enclosure phase (Phase 3). The iron smelting workshop continued to operate until the Hansung period of Baekje, even after the triple-enclosure settlement was abandoned (Phase 4). An analysis of the Nakrang-style pottery and the results of carbon dating suggest that the establishment of the Giani-ri site may date back to the 2nd century CE. Nakrang-style pottery in the central western region of Korea is widely distributed across Siheung, Hwaseong, Pyeongtaek, Asan, Jincheon, and Cheongju, and the variety and quantity of the pottery decreases, and the production techniques become more localized as the distance from the Giani-ri site increases. Within the settlements where Nakrang-style pottery has been found, there are traces of iron production in the form of circular furnaces and large-scale tuyeres. Therefore, the innovation of iron smelting technology in the central western region can be seen to have originated from Nakrang-related immigrants around the end of the Han dynasty, and spread through the involvement of the Giani-ri ironworking group. Since iron smelting technology is found mainly in the central western region during the 2nd to 3rd centuries, the Jin-Byeonhan origin theory is difficult to accept. Considering the continuous operation of the Gian-ri site’s iron smelting workshop from the end of the Han dynasty to the Hansung period of Baekje, the influence of the Nakrang tradition observed in Hansung-style pottery, and the remarkable growth of Hansung Baekje after the mid-3rd century, it may be proposed that the strategic partners involved in the settlement of the Gian-ri group are likely to be the polities of the Hwaseong region and Baekje-guk.