Yeongsan River Study

Detailed Distribution Survey Report on Ancient Tombs in the Yeongsan River Basin, 2011, Naju National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage

The Mahan tomb in Jaedong Village, Eomda has drawn me in for a long time. Who was the person buried in this scenic hill? Who were they, that even after nearly two thousand years have passed, they left behind such a towering tomb? How did the memory of them come to vanish so completely? What connection do we have with them? For the first time I saw photographs of the tomb’s excavation, and I even found a document that amounts to a mere single page. I think of him, buried in two enormous jar coffins.

Dwelling Sites of the Jar-Coffin Tomb Society, 2012, Naju National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage

Two thousand years ago, distinctions in architectural style existed even within the narrow lands of the Yeongsan River basin. And as time passed, the architectural styles gradually converged into one. The reason was surely that exchanges between people grew more frequent. Were their exchanges wars of conquest, as the history books say? Or perhaps, in the distant past, this land was lined with countless small nations, a world where they formed relationships with one another that were either hostile or peaceful? I think of the natives of New Guinea. Until only a few decades ago, the people of New Guinea lived in a state of endless conflict between villages. When you read the Commentaries on the Gallic War, stories of head-hunting come up often. Head-hunters on the Yeongsan River. It is a hard thing to imagine, but a captivating story.

Field Survey Study of Otter Habitats (Yeongsan River and Seomjin River Watersheds), December 2012, National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage

Otters live in the Yeongsan River..!

Ancient Mountain Fortresses of the Yeongsan River Basin, 2011, Naju National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage

From the upper reaches of the Yeongsan River below the Noryeong Mountains all the way to the islands of Sinan, there were many mountain fortresses. By now, no one knows when they were built or who built them. All that remains is the shape of the stones in walls that must surely once have been raised, and mounds of earth, once tall, that hint at their traces. Around the forgotten fortresses lie scattered, dotted here and there, the likewise forgotten ancient tombs. Who were these people who left no record in history? For what reason did they build a fortress out there among the islands of the Yellow Sea, on a high peak among the islands? I can only guess that there must have been fierce battles among them, or against some power from far away. The destruction of the ancient mountain fortresses is as severe as that of the tombs. In the case of the Seongteulbong earthen fortress in Yeongam, where the entire fortress wall has been used as the fence of a family cemetery, it fits so harmoniously that it almost looks as if it had been a cemetery from the start, enough to make you laugh. This is how modern people live atop the traces of people from two thousand years ago.

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