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| Seen are the newly discovered remains of a woman believed to have died in her 20s around the mid-4th century at the Wolseong Palace excavation site in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, in this undated photo released by the Gyeongju National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage (GNRICH), Tuesday. Courtesy of GNRICH |
By Park Ji-won
The remains of a woman believed to have been killed as a human sacrifice in her 20s as early as the 4th century have been uncovered along with a bracelet, a necklace, a vessel and animal bones, at the Wolseong Palace excavation site in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, the Gyeongju National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage (GNRICH) revealed, Tuesday.
It is the second time that traces of what appears to be a human sacrifice have been found, following the 2017 discovery of two bodies ― a man and woman in their 50s ― some 50 centimeters away from the newly discovered skeletal remains that were uncovered in April during excavation and academic research on the western rampart. They are the first cases in Korea to be identified as possibly human sacrifice, killed in the process of building the palace between the early 4th and early 5th centuries during the early Silla period.
The excavation of the Silla-era palace commenced in December 2014. In 1985 and 1990, about 20 sets of remains were found within about 10 meters of the site, but they were not identified as human sacrifices due to the lack of evidence.
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| Seen is a picture showing newly found remains of a woman in her 20s as well as the site of the remains of a man and woman in their 50s from the early Silla period at the Wolseong Palace excavation site in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, in this undated photo released by the Gyeongju National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage (GNRICH), Tuesday. Courtesy of GNRICH |
"The three bodies are buried in the section built previous to the main wall of the rampart," Jang Gi-myung, a researcher at GNRICH, said during an online press conference. "Based on the fact that they are located near the main entrance and along with the selected bones of animals as if protecting the wall, we could assume that they were buried as part of a ritual for the safe construction of the architecture." He added the wall was made in four stages but the bodies were buried right after leveling the land and right before erecting the frames of the construction.
Kim Hun-suk, another GNRICH researcher, said, "Further research may help us figure out the detailed process of the burial, but there aren't enough materials to show how the person was buried there. However, it appears that the person was buried after death based on the fact that there's no signs of struggle and the body is facing the sky while lying down in a straight position. The body is estimated to be 135 centimeters tall based on the small size of the bones, which supports the fact that the remains are those of a woman."
Considering signs of poor nutrition visible in her teeth and other markers, she appears to have belonged to a lower social class. All three sets of remains show signs of having lived with malnutrition.
The new remains are different from the previous two sets as it was wearing a necklace and bracelet.
GNRICH said a bowl was also found placed on the shoulder of the remains and that is significant in terms of estimating the date of the construction, which has received varying estimates from different researchers and data, as the relic is similar to that of other vessels found in the mid-4th century, in the middle of the Three Kingdoms period.
Wolseong Palace was thought to have been built during the reign of King Pasa of Silla or the year 101 based on Samguk sagi ― a historical record of the three kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla ― and Samguk yusa ― a book of legends and folktales of the three kingdoms. But the new findings may call on researchers to reconsider this estimate, as the vessels and the construction more closely resemble those made in the 4th century.
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