Naksan-ri Ancient Tombs, Gumi

In Haepyeong-myeon, Gumi, low hills east of the Nakdong River are dotted with 205 burial mounds of every size, rising between the pines. These are the Naksan-ri Ancient Tombs, a national Historic Site where generations of Gaya and Silla people were buried. Covering some 229,000 m², it is the largest tomb cluster in the Gumi area. It is no landscaped park like those in Gyeongju or Goryeong, but you can walk quietly among the mounds on a hillside you will probably have to yourself.

Where the tombs are

The cemetery lies at the end of a ridge running west from Naengsan (691 m) down to the Nakdong, about 70 m above sea level. Driving along National Route 25 from Daegu towards Sangju, you see large mounds on both sides of the road near Ilseon Bridge. The tombs form three groups: 81 on the horseshoe-shaped hill of Wolpajeongsan west of the road, 64 on Jeongmyosan to the east, and 60 on Bullosan further north.

Most mounds are single and round, but some are gourd-shaped pairs. The largest excavated tomb, Tomb 38, is two round mounds about 20 m across joined east to west, and the stone chamber of its western half is 9 m long. Notice how the big tombs line the ridge tops while smaller ones sit on the slopes.

What excavation revealed

A few tombs were dug in 1917 during colonial-era surveys. One mound 9 m high held a stone cist 12 m long in which two people had been buried, one at each end. The reports were brief, however, and after liberation many were looted or damaged. Systematic work came in 1987 and 1989, led by the museum of Hyosung Women's University (now Daegu Catholic University).

The northern ridge near the river held wooden-chamber tombs of the 4th to early 5th century, while the big mounds contained stone chambers of the late 5th to early 6th century. Burials began here in the 3rd–4th centuries and grew into a cemetery of large mounds in the 5th–6th. Finds include mounted cups, gold earrings, glass beads, horse fittings, ring-pommel swords and an unusual lamp-shaped vessel. Small pits filled with pottery outside the kerbstones of the large mounds, traces of rituals at the graves, are another feature of this cemetery. The tombs rival those of other ruling groups along the Nakdong, so this is thought to be the burial ground of the area's highest elite. It became a Historic Site in 1990.

Tripto tips

• Time needed: 30 minutes to an hour to walk among the mounds.
• Admission: an open-air site, free. There are hardly any facilities, so bring water.
• When to go: in spring and late autumn, when the grass is short, the curves of the mounds stand out best.
• Getting there: public transport is limited, so a car is easiest. Look for the mounds on both sides of Route 25 near Ilseon Bridge.
• Combine with: Dorisa Temple, about 4 km away in a straight line, is linked to the monk Ado, who brought Buddhism to Silla.