Re-recognition of Hwangnam-li No. Eul(乙) Tomb : Early Stone Chamber Tomb of Silla’s Capital City

Hwangnam-li No. Eul(乙) Tomb is one of the ‘Hwangnam-dong Small-sized Tumli’ in Gyeongju which were surveyed during the Japanese Colonial Era. During the process of examining the materials related to this tomb, I concluded that this tomb is the ‘early stone chamber tomb of Silla’s capital city’. The introduction of stone chamber tombs in Silla’s capital city must have been a major milestone in the development of Silla’s tumuli culture. If Hwangnam-li No. Eul(乙) Tomb was constructed during the process of the introduction, there is a need to have a deeper understanding of it. Therefore, this paper organizes materials related to the Hwangnam-li No. Eul(乙) Tomb. The materials include five short reports and thirty-nine gelatin dry plate photos. Through these materials, information on the location of the tomb, its mound, depth, direction of the main axis, Room No. 1 (auxiliary chamber), and Room No. 2 (main chamber) can be identified. In particular, Room No. 1 and No. 2 are analyzed in detail in the order of their chamber’s internal structure, and the excavated artifacts. Furthermore, based on the restored content from the analysis, this paper provides a supplementary explanation of the process of introduction of stone chamber tombs in Silla’s capital city which used to be explained mainly by the double burial of Bomun-dong in Gyeongju and other stone chamber tombs. This focuses on the changes in the type of tombs and the location of tumuli in Silla’s capital city and the structural genealogy of Hwangnam-li No. Eul(乙) Tomb and its meaning. This paper’s significance lies in the fact that Hwangnam-li No. Eul(乙) Tomb, which has been far from our memory for a period of slightly less than 100 years since its survey in 1926, is newly examined and documented, and through doing so, the process of introducing early stone chamber tombs in Silla’s capital city is studied more detailed.