The Appearance and Development of Metal Container in Silla Ancient Tombs

The purpose of this study is to focus on the burial of metal containers, which is a features of ancient tombs from the Silla Dynasty of the Three Kingdoms, to gather metal containers buried in ancient tombs and graves in and outside of Gyeongju to trace the meaning of burying metal containers with the dead in the Silla society. Metal containers buried in the ancient tombs of Silla range in materials from gold to silver, gilt bronze, bronze, and steel, and also have diverse types such as personal plates for food call gobae, wan, sohap, etc., cooking containers such as sotga and siru, storage containers such as janggyeongho, and even containers used for rituals like jeong, chodu, and choho. Burial of such metal containers are materialistic expressions of burial customs and belief of the afterlife are concentrated in Gyeongju, which was the center of Silla, while being buried in ancient tombs in some other areas outside of Gyeongju. Therefore, this study conducted analysis focusing on two aspects. metal containers buried in ancient tombs were reviewed to examine the types of metal containers, while on the other hand. Results of this showed that in addition to the temporal development mode of ancient tombs in which metal containers were buried, this practice spread to areas outside of Gyeongju as time passed. Based on this, the meaning of burying metal containers in tombs of the Silla society was evaluated. Meanwhile, the burial of metal containers also had social meaning. In the center of Silla, multiple metal containers with various materials and types were buried in the greatest tombs, and this custom of burying metal containers spread to the tombs of people of lower status. It is evident that in the fifth century and latter Silla Dynasty, the burial of metal containers was widely practiced among the upper echelons in central Silla. Burial of metal containers outside of Gyeongju were found after the late 5th century, and among the various regions that shared the ancient tomb culture of Silla, metal containers were found only in the ancient tombs of Gyeongsan, Daegu, Changnyeong, and Yangsan, and therefore, it was judged that this could be interpreted as the relationship between the central and local governments. Just like other artifacts that show hierarchy, the burial of metal containers can also hint to the relationship of the central and local regions, and it can be presumed that areas with ancient tombs that buried metal containers had higher status compared to other regions.