Gaya National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage
- Research Activities
- 현재 위치Gaya National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage
Gaya, Searching for Traces of Lost Kingdom
The Gaya National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage was founded in January 1990 in order to preserve the cultural heritage dispersed around the Busan and Ulsan metropolitan areas and Gyeongsangnam-do Province in general and ensure the balanced development of regional culture. In particular, its establishment was aimed at better understanding the culture and history of the Gaya Kingdom, which had not been sufficiently studied up to that point due to a lack of relevant bibliographic data. The institute has led the excavations, research, exhibitions, and utilization of cultural heritage and historical sites in the ancient territories of the Gaya Kingdom, the preservation and management of excavated artifacts, and the publication of reports and academic journals.
Surveys and Research on Gaya Cultural Zones
The institute is actively focused on academic surveys and research on important cultural heritage and historical sites in the ancient territories of the Gaya Kingdom. It is also steadily carrying out surface inspections as part of the compilation of data on the current status of cultural heritage and conducting excavations as part of the conservation and maintenance of cultural heritage. Major sites excavated by the institute include ancient Gaya burial mounds on Marisan Mountain in Haman, those at the Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong sites in Changnyeong, those at the Jisan-dong site in Goryeong, and those at the Bonghwang-dong site in Gimhae. The fortress site in Gaya-ri and Seongsansanseong Fortress in Haman, Buddhist temples such as Bongnimsa in Changwon, and the earthenware kilns in Ugeo-ri in Haman have also been investigated. The findings of these surveys and research are provided to academia and the public as study and education materials through published academic reports.
Research for the Construction of a Knowledge Base on the Gaya Cultural Zones
In order to meet the research demands from local communities and academia, the institute has provided research services based on its database, released research findings through academic conferences, and promoted interdisciplinary research involving the humanities and natural sciences. The institute’s major academic achievements include the recreation of the body of a girl from the Gaya period based on her bones, the construction of a website dedicated to studies on ancient wooden slips, the reconstruction of the ancient surroundings of Seongsansanseong Fortress, and the research on the location, construction, and surroundings of ancient Gaya-style burial mounds. In particular, the recreation of the body of the Gaya girl conducted from 2008 to 2009 was the first cross-disciplinary project led by the Gaya National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage involving numerous academic disciplines. The skeletal remains of a girl excavated from the Tomb Site No. 15 in Songhyeon-dong in Changnyeong were investigated by experts in humanities and natural science fields, including archaeology, forensic medicine, anatomy, genetics, physics, and plastic arts to produce an image of what she might have looked like in life. This project attracted national attention at the time.