Marisan Tumuli, Haman

In the middle of Gaya-eup, Haman, round burial mounds rise one after another along a low ridge running north to south. The Marisan Tumuli are the tombs of the ruling class of Ara Gaya, a Gaya state centred on what is now Haman, with large mounds along the crest and smaller ones on the slopes. In September 2023 they were inscribed, together with six other Gaya burial sites, as the UNESCO World Heritage Site Gaya Tumuli.

History: 550 years of burials

Tombs were built on Marisan for about 550 years, from around the turn of the Common Era until the fall of Ara Gaya. Wooden coffin and wooden chamber tombs of Anya-guk, the Samhan-period state that preceded Ara Gaya, cluster on the northern part of the hill, while the high earthen mounds date mainly from Ara Gaya's heyday in the late 5th and early 6th centuries.

The site was once managed as two separate groups, the Dohang-ri and Malsan-ri tombs, but excavations showed that they belong to the same period and culture, and in 2011 they were combined as a single Historic Site. 37 large mounds, thought to be royal tombs, stand in a line on the high ground.

The World Heritage Site Gaya Tumuli is made up of seven burial grounds: Marisan, Daeseong-dong in Gimhae, Jisan-dong in Goryeong, Okjeon in Hapcheon, Songhak-dong in Goseong, Yugok-ri and Durak-ri in Namwon, and Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong in Changnyeong. UNESCO recognised them as evidence of Gaya's distinctive political system, which coexisted with its neighbours on an equal footing.

What to see

• Tomb No. 4: first investigated during the Japanese occupation, it has a mound 39.3 m across and 9.7 m high.
• Ridge trail: paths wind between the mounds and look out over Haman and the surrounding hills. The line of rounded tombs along the ridge is the great sight here.
• Exhibition hall: looking at the finds and tomb structures in the hall below the site first makes the walk much more rewarding.

Good to know

The tombs have yielded 7,961 objects, including 2,010 pieces of pottery, 2,479 iron objects and 3,381 ornaments. Pedestal dishes pierced with flame-shaped openings are the signature pottery of Ara Gaya, and many iron objects such as horse armour, ring-pommel swords and barbed iron plaques have been found. Ara Gaya flourished throughout the 5th century, and in the 6th century it took the lead in uniting the Gaya states against Silla's push west of the Nakdong River. In Tomb No. 8, archaeologists found the remains of five people buried with the tomb's owner as human sacrifices, a sign of how powerful the rulers were.

Tripto tips

• Access: always open, free admission, with a car park. Enquiries: 055-580-2301.
• When to go: spring and early summer, when the grass is fresh and green, show off the shapes of the mounds best. There is little shade, so avoid midday in high summer and bring a hat and water.
• Time needed: about 1–1.5 hours to walk the ridge trail past the main tombs.
• See also: Ara Gaya finds are also on show in the permanent Gaya galleries of Gimhae National Museum.