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Our previous research on coprolite specimens from the mummies of Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910 CE) has revealed various species of parasite eggs. Herein, we added 2 new helminthic cases of human remains from Joseon-period graves in the Republic of Korea (Korea). The organic materials precipitated on the hip bones of 2 half-mummied cases (Goryeong and Gwangmyeong cases) were collected, rehydrated, and examined by a microscope. In the sample from Goryeong-gun (gun=County), ova of Trichuris trichiura, Clonorchis sinensis, and Metagonimus spp. were detected, and eggs of T. trichiura and A. lumbricoides were found from the sample of Gwangmyeong-si (si=City). By adding this outcome to the existing data pool, we confirm our previous estimates of Joseon-period parasite infection rates. The overall rates of A. lumbricoides, T. trichiura, and C. sinensis decreased dramatically from Joseon to the modern period. In Goryeong mummy specimen, we also found Metagonimus spp. eggs that has rarely been detected in archaeological samples so far.

경주 월성과 북쪽을 흐르는 발천을 중심으로 그 주변 일대에서 조사된 여러 유적들의 입지조건과 성격을 비교하여 살펴본 결과 삼국시대에 홍수 등으로부터 궁성을 보호하기 위한 대규모 성토작업으로 대지를 조성한 월성 안에는 궁궐과 부속 관청이 위치했고, 월성 외부 방어시설인 해자는 웅덩이 모습에서 석축시설로 변화하였다. 통일신라시대 해자시설이 축소되면서 발천을 경계로 남북으로 각각 건물들이 세워지며 건물의 방향과 규모에서 차이가 확인된다. 해자 북쪽에는 월성과 관련된 부속시설이 있고, 발천 북쪽에는 의례나 행정과 관련된 건물로 추정되며 월성을 연결하는 여러 개의 다리가 발천 위에 만들어졌다. 발천과 월성해자에 대한 조사결과 이들이 만들어진 시기와 수혈 해자에서 석축해자로 변화한 시기가 확인되었으며, 두 유적이 서로 연관된 모습으로 변화했다고 여겨진다. 또한 월성의 확장과 함께 월지의 축조 그리고 동궁 건축 등이 연이어 이루어지면서 발천 주변 일대에 대한 성토작업과 대지조성 그리고 건물 축조가 같이 이루어졌다. 결국 이러한 모습은 월성을 중심으로 정치공간이 조성된 것으로 볼 수 있으며, 삼국통일 이후인 7세기 말 이후에는 도성의 공간구조를 완성하였다고 판단된다.

This article presents a systematic study of deposits of precious goods recovered from temple sites from the Unified Silla and Koryŏ periods. These deposits typically consist of metal objects that had been stored in the temple but were placed in big iron cauldrons or bells and buried for safekeeping during times of war or chaos. Unlike the chindan’gu or ritual implements to pacify the earth spirits, which were buried before the building was constructed, “deliberately deposited artifacts” (t’oejang yumul) refers to objects buried during an emergency. After burial, because of the temple’s destruction or other factors, they could not be recovered and restored to the temple; most have thus been recovered recently during archeological excavations. This article investigates artifacts recovered from twelve different sites. Following a careful comparison of the metal objects, it was ascertained that during the mid-Koryŏ period, the previous system wherein three ritual objects were employed (one incense burner, one candle holder, and one vase) shifted to a system influenced by the Southern Song (one incense burner, two candle holders, and two vases). This system with five ritual implements became more prevalent during the period of Mongol dominion, spreading to temples across the country. It is surmised that the objects recovered from such deposits did not only derive from the golden hall, the main shrine of the temple, but were used in various buildings in the temple precinct, and can serve as an index for the size of the temple in which they were found.

In the general context of rescue archaeology or in any emergency salvage operation, especially where human bones are involved that need to be cremated within a short time frame, anthropologists cannot conduct their work carefully at a university or institute lab. Thus, they have sought ever-more efficient and effective investigative protocols by which work can be conducted in cases of urgent time constraints. A recent anthropological survey conducted at a small town in South Korea (Goryeung) is thus significant. A joint team of anthropologists and dress historians performed collaborative research work in a “field lab” set up at the excavation site. Our novel protocol, by which academic data demonstrably can be successfully secured in the field instead of having to be sent to a university or institute lab, could be useful for the purposes of rescue archaeology.

Accurate interpretation of radiological data is important for reliable paleopathological study of mummies. This is especially true for the mummified heart, an anatomically complicated organ that is distorted and displaced due to long-term dehydration and the action of gravity. In the present study, we compared post-factum autopsy results for mummified hearts of differing preservation statuses with corresponding radiological (computed tomography [CT]-image) findings in order to obtain information necessary for accurate radiological diagnosis. We found that the valvular apparatus (especially the aortic valve and chordae tendinae) was easily distinguishable on the CT images of mummies in which more cardiac structures were preserved. We also identified several situations that are known to incur misdiagnosis of cardiac CT images: the presence of pseudo-cavities in the cardiac wall, confusion of the valvular apparatus with cardiac-wall debris, and invisibility of cardiac structures on CT images due to collapse or adhesion. While acknowledging the merits of top-priority CT scanning in non-invasive research, post-factum autopsy also has value as a complementary and confirmatory analysis for enhanced accuracy of diagnoses in paleo-radiological studies.

We found calcified pulmonary nodules in a middle-aged female mummy discovered from 350-yr-old Joseon tomb of Korea. In the CT scan, we found six radiopaque nodules in right lung, through the levels of thoracic vertebrae 1 to 6. We also found presumptive pleural adhesions in right thoracic cavity of CT images. We re-confirmed radiological findings by our post-factum dissection on the same mummy. By the differential diagnosis, we speculate that the radiopaque calcification nodules and associated pleural adhesion could have been caused by tuberculosis. This is the first-ever report on the pulmonary tuberculosis identified in archaeologically obtained, pre-modern Korean samples., Graphical Abstract

Anthropological studies on burnt bones revealed patterns by which the nature of archaeological cremation cases can be hypothesized. However, there have been very few histological analyses performed on cremated bones obtained from archaeological sites in East Asia. The researchers, therefore, endeavored to isolate the heat-induced changes in Late Silla Kingdom bones that probably had been subjected to post-mortem cremation. When the researchers examined the bone samples by S-4700 scanning electron microscope (SEM), color changes in the bones were observed, showing that the cremation temperature might have reached a high level. By the detailed SEM study on bony microstructure, the researchers estimated that the temperature in one case (Gangneung) reached about 800°C and in another (Pyeongtaek), possibly as high as 1000-1400°C. The histological nature of ancient cremated bones in Korea is revealed for the first time ever in the present study, by which the cremation temperature of them could be successfully estimated.

포항 신광면에서 발견된 는 삼국시대 신라의 발전과정에서 나타난 지역주민들의 재산과 관련된 분쟁모습을 잘 보여주는 자료로 당시 신라사회의 발전과정을 보여주는 자료이다. 그리고 최근 조사된 에 대한 연구 결과 앞서 일어난 분쟁과 유사한 지역민 사이의 다툼이 포항지역에서 계속되고 있고, 이를 해결하기 위해서 중앙의 재판과 그 결과인 를 내림으로써 분쟁을 해결하고 있다. 당시 포항지역에서 일어난 분쟁 원인에 대해서는 여러 의견이 있지만 에 나타난 의 성격과 규정이 중요하며, 이에 대해서 여러 의견이 이미 개진되어 있지만 아직 논란이 진행되고 있다. 본 글에서는 에 나타난 의 성격을 당시 포항지역에서 이루어진 토지개간으로 인해 새롭게 수취권이 만들어진 토지일 가능성에 대해서 살펴보고자 한다. 이와 관련하여 주목되는 유적은 포항 초곡리유적이다. 발굴조사 결과 6~7세기대에 계곡지역을 논으로 개간하고 이후 농경을 하면서 소가 사용된 모습이 확인된 점은 당시 신라 안에서 새로운 토지개간과 우경과 철제 농기구의 보급이 지방까지 폭넓게 이루어졌음을 보여주는 사례로 생각된다. 포항 초곡리유적은 의 건립시기와 비교할 때 다소 늦은 시기의 유적이지만 삼국시대 포항지역에서 , 이뤄진 농지 개간의 모습 일부를 추정할 수 있는 자료로 생각되며, 향후 보다 이른 시기에 이루어진 농지개간과 관련된 유적이 확인되면 의 성격을 보다 분명하게 밝힐 수 있을 것으로 생각된다.

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a birth defect of the diaphragm resulting in pulmonary sequelae that threaten the lives of infants. In computed tomography (CT) images of a 17th century middle-aged male mummy (the Andong mummy), we observed that the abdominal contents had protruded into the right thoracic cavity through the diaphragmatic defect, accompanied by a mediastinal shift to the left. On autopsy, the defect in the right posterolateral aspect of the diaphragm was reconfirmed, as was the herniation of the abdominal organs. The herniated contents included the right lobe of the liver, the pyloric part of the stomach, a part of the greater omentum, and the right colic flexure connecting the superior part of the ascending colon and the right part of the transverse colon. Taking our CT and autopsy results together, this case was diagnosed as the Bochdalek-type CDH. Herein we make the first ever report of a CT-assisted diagnosis of a pre-modern historical case of CDH. Our results show the promising utility of this modality in investigations of mummified human remains archaeologically obtained.