Hughie takes a look at burial methods in Korea.
Posted by Hughie Samson (at 2010/06/18 08:30)
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Last week I detailed how unique Korean burial practices developed during the 1300s resulted in various corpses accidentally but exquisitely becoming mummified. At that time I focused particularly upon the mummification process (please see http://www.gwangjublog.com/484). This week, on the other hand, I would like to take a look at the places in which mummies are usually found – burial mounds.
A large and important Korean burial mound entrance:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Korea-Gyeongju-Cheonmachong-Entrance-01.jpg
Various cultures throughout the world have developed very unique methods of disposing of their dead. Some opt for cremation; some bury their dead at sea; some engage in funerary cannibalism; some hang their dead in coffins and secure them to cliffs; and some expose their dead upon mountaintops so that the remains of the deceased – in a final, intentional act of generosity – can be consumed by hungry animals and birds of prey.
Tibetan Sky Burial site in the
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Sky_burial_site%2C_Yerpa_Valley.JPG
Like so many others Koreans have similarly honored and disposed of their dead in a variety of ways. One of their most conspicuous and long-standing practices involves raising a mound of earth and/or stones over one grave or several.
Dolmens found in Gochang, Korea:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Korea-Gwangju-Gochang_Dolmens_5350-06.JPG
‘Dolmen’ were used as grave markers and for ritual purposes during the first millennium BCE and they usually consist of three or more upright stones supporting a large flat horizontal stone.
A sight more familiar than the ‘dolmens’ is the ‘tumulus.’ ‘Tumulus’ is a Latin word meaning ‘mound’ or ‘small hill’ and these tumuli, succeeding dolmen, can be found all over the countryside and throughout cities too.
Korean burial mounds in Gyeongju, Korea:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Burial-Mounds-at-GyeongJu.jpg
Interestingly, similar mounds can be found throughout the world.
Grave Creek Mound, the
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Grave_Creek_Mound.jpg
It is fascinating that though different races oftentimes consider themselves significantly different from one another – and they are! – they also have much in common with one another. These similarities are revealed in numerous, fascinating ways – one such way being how they deal with death.
::: Comments :::
The Romans' tumuli were round tombs built by their predecessors, the Etruscans. They romanticized them while looting the crap out of them to decorate their villas (in much the same way Roman ruins were later looted).
The amazing thing to me about Korean tombs is that they are /everywhere/. We have a bunch right next to my school; the kids take shortcuts around them all the time. I asked my coteacher how they know whose tomb it is and she just shrugged - I guess the people to whom it is important knowing is enough?