Daesong-dong Gobungun (+ surprise Jisan-dong Gobungun drive-by), June 2023

With an already packed Korea trip, I carelessly dismissed most Gaya Tumuli sites as too inaccessible to squeeze into the itinerary; reading through the (two) reviews on this website, I decided that Daesong-dong was easily my best bet to check this site and see the Gaya remains for myself. Daesong-dong is located in the center of Gimhae, a satellite city of Busan and connected by metro (a very scenic light rail line, to be specific!), the closest stop being Gimhae National Museum. This turned out to be about 1.5 hours one-way transit from Busan Train Station. Gimhae seems to be extremely proud of their Gaya heritage, as the center of the Geumgwan Gaya, among the most influential of the Gaya Confederacy. One can actually see the huge mound as the train approaches the station, probably a casual visitor's best spot for a bird's eye view of the site. Then, you can just cross the street, and voila, you've arrived! Honestly, the most interesting in situ remains were exposed excavations laden with pottery and other artifacts, which you can peer at from the balcony of the building on the side of the mound. Other than that, one can see short rectangular hedges, tombs where excavations had already taken place, scattered all throughout the site, along with a couple dolmens and one tomb with rocks. In fact, what I (and I suppose many others) had assumed to be a huge mound was actually the completely natural Aeguji Hill! With that in mind, is it even appropriate to consider this a tumuli site? Perhaps "gobungun" here can refer to any ancient tombs. The museum with its explanations and artifacts was a lot more interesting than the site itself; still, I had my doubts on whether the site's OUV really lay in the site itself instead of the artifacts found in it...

Fast-forward a few days later, and I was on a bus from Daegu to Haeinsa. I knew that there were also buses between these places and Goryeong, the town where Jisan-dong is located, but I didn't realize that Goryeong was actually a stop on every bus between Daegu and Haeinsa. Lo and behold, I spotted the tumuli crowning the hills above the city and could only watch in awe and regret as we drove past them. So, heads up to future WHS hunters in Korea, you can do Jisan-dong and Haeinsa in a single public-transport day trip from Daegu! I believe there is even a stop at the Daegaya Museum itself; if not, it is easily under two kilometers from the Goryeong bus station. Seeing these mounds in front of my very eyes, I could definitely see a unique visual of the mounds endlessly littering the hilltops here, and even from that brief drive-by, I can confidently say Jisan-dong is the more interesting and impressive site of the two with reviews here. While the mounds are not very different from the later Silla ones, their settings and the different archaeological findings definitely set them apart. Therefore, I really highly recommend a day trip to Goryeong for Jisan-dong, especially combined with Haeinsa. I do also look forward to seeing reviews of the remaining five gobungun, which also highlight separate states or subcultures of the Gaya. Based on the merit of Jisan-dong and the extensiveness of the nomination to showcase different parts of the Gaya Confederacy to showcase a diverse and distinct culture, I would have to (somewhat begrudgingly) agree to the admission of yet another ancient Korean cemetery to the List.