A small scale jar coffin tombs found in the Chungnam region have not been considered as central as a burial method as those of Yeongsan River area even though they were widely used in the region through the Baekje era. Accordingly, the previous studie...
A small scale jar coffin tombs found in the Chungnam region have not been considered as central as a burial method as those of Yeongsan River area even though they were widely used in the region through the Baekje era. Accordingly, the previous studies have concentrated on a large scale jar coffin tombs located in the Yeongsan River basin, and those from the Baekje area have been relatively neglected. The current study will focus on the characteristics of the Pakche jar coffin tombs and the burial custom in the light of new evidence discovered from the recent excavation works, which have been on increase. Jar coffin tombs have been found evenly throughout the Chungnam region including areas such as Cheonan, Gongju, Chungyang, Puyo, Nonsan, Seocheon, Seosan, Asan , Boryoung, and Taejeon.40 burial sites have been identified, and a total of 105 coffins have been retrieved, which is considerably small in number compared to other types of burial systems. Furthermore, most of the tombs have been found in poor condition, and the retrieved artifacts are of limited number and variety, which makes it even more difficult to carry out a systematic study. Despite these limitations, this project has attempted to shed lights on the functional developments of the jar coffin tombs, which has been a main bone of contention in the field by quantifying combination types of coffin jars and changes in length.