500kg Stone Tomb Lid to Be Covered Using Ten Handles

“Reenactment Ceremony of Burial for Jjoksaem Tomb No. 44” Held from July 17 to 19
Twelve of Twenty-One Construction Steps to Be Demonstrated

A scene will be recreated in which a 500-kg tomb lid is placed using ten handles.

A scene explaining the corpse and burial goods at the construction experiment public briefing session.

The Gyeongju National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage will hold the “Reenactment Ceremony of Burial for Gyeongju Jjoksaem Tomb No. 44” at the Jjoksaem Excavation Exhibition Hall in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, for three days starting from July 17.

The Jjoksaem Tomb No. 44 is a stone mound tomb believed to be the burial site of a young Shilla royal woman. It drew significant attention after some 800 artifacts, including horse ornament covers made of jewel beetle wings, were excavated from the site.

From 2014 to 2023, the institute uncovered the entire burial construction process through excavation and interdisciplinary research. Based on these results, an experimental reconstruction of this rare tomb—one that is unprecedented in world archaeological history—is underway.

Progress of the construction process in 9 stages.

Currently, the wooden structure and double wooden coffin have been installed, and stones have been piled in between, reaching up to two meters in height. An institute official explained, “This marks the ninth of 21 construction steps required to build the tomb.”

During this reenactment, steps will include enshrining the body and burial goods (Step 10), setting up an altar and rites (Step 11), and placing the inner coffin lid (Step 12). An institute official stated, “According to historical sources, the lid is assembled from thirteen planks, forty-eight iron clamps, and five bands, and both ends are reinforced with frames.”

The institute will place replicas of the artifacts worn and interred by the tomb’s owner to review the enshrinement process and order, and will recreate rituals such as scattering ancient red pigment (cinnabar) and mica (stone scales), or shaking earthen bells.

My skylight cover.

The reenactment will take place on the afternoon of July 17, lasting around one hour, followed by twelve public briefing sessions, each 30 minutes long, on July 18 and 19.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.