The Naju National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage was founded on October 18, 2005, to conduct systematic academic surveys of cultural heritage in North and South Jeolla provinces. Its research focuses on large urn burial mounds, keyhole-shaped tombs with square front and round back and massive dolmen groups to identify the characteristics of ancient culture of the provinces, also called Honam region. The institute provides digitalized information and research references about regional culture to concerned academic communities as well as the general public.

Research in Jar Coffin Mounds

Through surveys of large burial mounds containing funerary urns, which are distributed along the Yeongsan River and adjacent areas, the institute attempts to identify the social and political system that gave rise to the burial custom. Annual surveys on the tumuli group of Bogam-ri and nearby areas as well as the Hoejin earthen fortress in Naju are part of this effort.

Production of Replicas of Large Burial Urns

The institute is undertaking annual excavations on the site of what is presumed to have been a specialized kiln for manufacturing large burial urns at Oryang-dong, Naju. The excavations are part of a project to restore the skill of producing large burial urns through experiments for scientific analysis of their material and production technique.

Building Archives for Regional Cultural Heritage

The institute undertakes comprehensive academic surveys on the cultural heritage of the Honam region to build a database of documents on the regional culture and publish them. Through systematic collection and digitalization of basic reference materials on the local cultural heritage, the institute tries to turn it into valuable resources for regional development.