Funerary and Social Aspects of Koguryo Pottery

Abstract

Purpose. Previous studies on Koguryo ceramics covered some general information on the archaeological objects found or specific related issues. Our research focuses on the ceramics found only in burials as we aimed at describing typological and technological features of the burial ceramics. The territorial and chronological comparative analysis of the vessels which has been conducted shows the features of each period and region in Koguryo and reveals the development of social background in this state. Results. The burial ceramics analyzed consists of 183 vessels which are divided into 22 types. According to the concentration of burials with ceramics, we identified 4 big areas along major river basins, which are administratively related to modern Liaoning and Jilin provinces of China, North and South Korea. Analysis of the spatial factor of burial ceramics shows that the largest variety of types was found in the Yalu River region, with the next Pyongyang area. This was due to the central location of these territories in Koguryo, which used to be the capital of the state for several centuries. By contrast, there are only few types and samples of funerary ceramics found in the Hun River and Imjin River basin. Most likely, it is due to the fact that they were provinces or suburbs with a political and economic system that was not considered safe yet. Our research shows territorial preferences in using certain types of burial pottery, which was classified according to its characteristics and features. Conclusion. Koguryo’s burial ceramics is divided into storage vessels and cooking vessels, and together they symbolically generalize the concept of “food.” We concluded that the concept of food in the Otherworld was important for the ancient Korean population. We also confirmed that after the 4^th AD ceramic replicas of household items and glazed ceramics began to be buried in Koguryo tombs. It was closely related to the introduction of a new burial type in Koguryo.