Gyeongju Gujeong-dong Square Tumulus

About this place

The Gyeongju Gujeong-dong Square Tumulus is a Unified Silla tomb located on a northern hillside slope along the road from Gyeongju to Bulguksa Temple. This square tomb measures 9.5 m on each side and 2 m high. The tomb is square in shape, and below the earthen mound are surrounding stones carved with twelve zodiac guardian figures, placed to protect the tomb. The practice of surrounding stones is a tradition going back to the Three Kingdoms period, and such zodiac-carved surrounding stones are commonly seen in royal tombs of the Gyeongju region from the Unified Silla period. Inside the mound, slightly offset to the south, is a rectangular corridor tomb (hoenglyeol-sik stone chamber tomb). On the eastern wall of the main chamber is an entrance passage. Artifacts recovered include gilt-bronze crown ornaments, silver belt buckles, and silver leaf decorations. The arrangement of surrounding stones, use of a stone coffin, and style of the twelve zodiac carvings suggest this is a tomb of the highest aristocratic class from the late Unified Silla period. As the sole square tomb among Silla tombs, its ancestry is unknown, but it is evaluated as a forerunner to the square tombs with surrounding stones seen in the early Goryeo period.