Ganghwa Dolmen Site

In the fields of Bugeun-ri on Ganghwa Island, a single slab of rock rests on two upright stones. Its capstone is 6.5 m long and the whole structure stands 2.6 m high: this is the Bugeun-ri Dolmen, often called the largest table-type dolmen in South Korea. Bronze Age people quarried, moved and raised it with hardly any metal tools, which is why it has become the face of the Ganghwa Dolmen Site. In December 2000 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List together with the dolmen sites of Gochang and Hwasun.

What is a table-type dolmen?

Korean dolmens fall into two broad groups. Table-type (northern) dolmens have flat slabs set upright to form a burial chamber above ground, topped by a capstone. Go-board (southern) dolmens have the chamber underground, with a heavy capstone resting on small supporting stones. Ganghwa is dominated by the table type, and its dolmens often sit higher up on hill slopes than those in Gochang or Hwasun. Because their shape resembles early forms, some researchers think they are among the oldest on the peninsula, though this has not been proven.

The Bugeun-ri dolmen: what to see

• Bugeun-ri Dolmen (Historic Site): designated on 11 July 1964. The granite capstone measures 6.5 m long, 5.2 m wide and 1.2 m thick; sources differ, and some give 7.1 m by 5.5 m. Of the slabs that once closed all four sides, only the two side stones remain, so you can look straight through the space beneath the capstone.
• A tomb never excavated: this dolmen has not been excavated. Nearby dolmens at Samgeori yielded plain pottery shards, a polished stone dagger and stone spindle whorls, so similar objects are thought to lie here as well.
• The dolmens around it: some 40 dolmens are scattered around Bugeun-ri alone. The Jeomgol Dolmen, in a field about 15 m above sea level at the end of a ridge running north from Goryeosan, had collapsed and has been put back up in its original form. Its northern end stone survives, which makes the structure of a table-type dolmen easy to read.
• Osang-ri dolmens: on a hillside in Naega-myeon stand 12 dolmens. An excavation in 2000 showed that all are table-type, and it produced plain pottery, tubular beads, semi-lunar stone knives and arrowheads. Large and small dolmens cluster together here, giving the site a different feel from Bugeun-ri.

Dolmens that climbed the hills

What makes Ganghwa unusual is how high some of its dolmens sit. Besides Bugeun-ri, several groups listed as Incheon Monuments are scattered across the island.

• Samgeori dolmens: nine table-type dolmens stand in a line on the western ridge of Goryeosan above Jinchon village in Hajeom-myeon. Some capstones bear small cup-shaped hollows, called seonghyeol in South Korea; North Korean scholars link such marks to constellations. A quarry with traces of stone-cutting lies nearby.
• Gocheon-ri dolmens: 18 dolmens are scattered along the western ridge of Goryeosan (436 m) at 250–350 m above sea level, far higher than the average for Korean dolmens. Most have collapsed, but one table-type dolmen with a capstone of 3.35 by 2.47 m survives fairly well.
• Gyosan-ri dolmens: 11 dolmens on the hills north of Byeollipsan (340 m) in Yangsa-myeon. Complete table-type dolmens with supports, end stones and capstones stand alongside capstone-only dolmens laid directly on the ground.

Ganghwa in numbers

Estimates for the whole island range from about 120 to 150 dolmens, depending on how each survey drew its boundaries. The Korean Peninsula holds a large share of the world's dolmens, and Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa were listed together because of their density and the variety of their forms. Ganghwa's dolmens now stand away from the sea, but their distribution has been read as a sign that Bronze Age communities here lived off the coast and its tidal flats.

Tripto tips

• Opening hours: the Bugeun-ri dolmen and the surrounding Dolmen Park are open-air and accessible 24 hours. The car park in front is free.
• Combine it with the museum: the Ganghwa History Museum stands right opposite the park. It opens 09:00–18:00 (last tickets 17:30) and is closed on Mondays, 1 January and on Seollal and Chuseok. Tickets cost KRW 3,000 for adults and KRW 2,000 for children, teenagers and soldiers, and include the Ganghwa Natural History Museum next door. Under-7s and over-65s go free.
• Time needed: 30 minutes to 1 hour for the dolmen and park, about 2.5 hours with both museums. A car makes it much easier to add the Osang-ri, Samgeori and Gocheon-ri groups, and the ridge-top dolmens involve a walk uphill.
• Getting there: take bus 3000 from Sinchon Station in Seoul to Ganghwa Bus Terminal, then change to county buses 23, 23A, 25, 27 or 30 and get off at Ganghwa History Museum. From Incheon, buses 70 (Incheon–Ganghwa Terminal), 88 (Songjeong Station–Ganghwa Terminal), 90 (Bupyeong Station–Ganghwa Terminal) and 800 (Incheon Bus Terminal–Ganghwa Terminal) run to the island.
• Photo tip: the capstone seems to float against the sky when you shoot from the side and from a low angle. The lawn has almost no shade, so mornings and late afternoons are more comfortable than a summer midday.
• Nearby: pair it with the Ganghwa Anglican Church in Ganghwa-eup to cover the island's story from prehistory to the modern era in one day.