Dae Gaya’s Power Seen from the Excavated Artifacts

Let’s first look at the replica of the burial chamber at the passageway of the exhibition pavilion. The wall was built by stacking stones, and clay was used to fill the gaps. When you look up from inside the chamber, you’ll see the cover stone. After they laid the coffin down, a number of large stones were stacked together, and small stones and clay were used to fill the gaps and completely seal the tomb.

When you pass this replica, you’ll see artifacts that were found in the ancient tomb. Although they were damaged and broken into many pieces when they were excavated, the remaining shape was used to reproduce the ladle with real glowing clams.

Looking at the surface, we can see their fabrication technology used to polish the rough shell. There’s a reason why this glowing clam ladle draws more attention compared to other artifacts.

Glowing clam is usually found in Japan and this artifact is a critical piece of evidence that we made exchanges of goods with Japan. We learn that Dae Gaya engaged in active exchange with neighboring kingdoms along the river and sea route of Korea Peninsula’s southern sea.

If this tomb indeed belonged to the king of Dae Gaya, there must have been a crown among the excavated artifacts. Unfortunately, no crown was found during the excavation. However, the gold crown in the Samsung Leeum Museum of Art, in Seoul, is believed to be found in Goryeong. Some people believe that it could have been excavated from this tomb.