Suchon-ri Ancient Tombs

The artifacts that you are looking at are from ancient tombs that were excavated in 2005. This was the biggest excavation in the region since the excavation of the Royal Tomb of King Muryeong in 1971.

The excavated tombs date from the period before Baekje relocated its capital to Gongju. There was a crown and shoes made of gilt bronze, gold earrings, and a gilt-bronze belt ornament, as well as Chinese pottery found at the excavation site. From this, we suspect that the occupant of the tomb was probably a ruler in this area with almost as much power as the King.

Let's look at each artifact in turn.

The gilt-bronze crown looks like an upside-down cup and its main feature is the decorative tassel attached to the top of the crown. The sides are inscribed with designs featuring dragons, flame patterns, clouds, and grass. On the front and back there are many spangles attached.

The gilt-bronze shoes are covered with patterns of grass, flowers, dragons, and phoenixes, and there are gilt-bronze nails attached to the soles of the shoes.

As you can see, these artifacts are evidence that there were independent figures that possessed great wealth and power in the Gongju area.