Allied with China under the Tang dynasty, Silla conquered Goguryeo in 668, after having already

conquered Gaya in 562 and Baekje in 660, thus ushering in the North-South states period with Later
Silla to the south and Balhae to the north, when Dae Jo-young, a former Goguryeo military officer,
revolted against Tang Chinese rule and began reconquering former Goguryeo territories.

Archaeological perspectives[edit]

An unusual drinking vessel excavated from a Gaya mounded burial.

Archaeologists use theoretical guidelines derived from anthropology, ethnology, analogy,
and ethnohistory to the concept of what defines a state-level society. This is different from the
concept of state (guk or Sino ko: 國, walled-town state, etc.) in the discipline of Korean History.
In anthropological archaeology the presence of urban centres (especially capitals), monumental
architecture, craft specialization and standardization of production, ostentatious burials, writing or
recording systems, bureaucracy, demonstrated political control of geographical areas that are
usually larger in area than a single river valley, etc. make up some of these correlates that define
states.[30] Among the archaeology sites dating to the Three Kingdoms of Korea, hundreds of
cemeteries with thousands of burials have been excavated. The vast majority of archaeological
evidence of the Three Kingdoms Period of Korea consists of burials, but since the 1990s there has
been a great increase in the archaeological excavations of ancient industrial production sites, roads,
palace grounds and elite precincts, ceremonial sites, commoner households, and fortresses due to
the boom in salvage archaeology in South Korea.
Rhee and Choi hypothesize that a mix of internal developments and external factors lead to the
emergence of state-level societies in Korea. [30] A number of archaeologists including Kang
demonstrate the role of frequent warfare in the development of peninsular states.[30][31][32]

Foundation (c. 0 – 300/400 AD)[edit]

Historic example of a climbing kiln similar to those that were excavated from Songok-dong and Mulcheon-ri as
early as the late Three Kingdoms Period, c. 600.
Some individual correlates of complex societies are found in the chiefdoms of Korea that date back
to c. 700 BC (e.g. see Igeum-dong, Songguk-ri).[30][33] However, the best evidence from the
archaeological record in Korea indicates that states formed between 300 BC and 300/400 AD. [31][32][34]
[35][36][37]
 However, archaeologists are not prepared to suggest that this means there were states in the
BC era. The correlates of state-level societies did not develop as a package, but rather in spurts and
starts and at various points in time. It was some time between 100–400 AD that individual correlates
of state societies had developed to a sufficient number and scale that state-level societies can be
confidently identified using archaeological data.

Burials[edit]
Lee Sung-joo analyzed variability in many of the elite cemeteries of the territories of Silla and Gaya
polities and found that as late as the 2nd century there was intra-cemetery variation in the
distribution of prestige grave goods, but there was an absence of hierarchical differences on a
regional scale between cemeteries. Near the end of the 2nd century AD, interior space in elite
burials increased in size, and wooden chamber burial construction techniques were increasingly
used by elites. In the 3rd century, a pattern developed in which single elite cemeteries that were the
highest in status compared to all the other cemeteries were built. Such cemeteries were established
at high elevations along ridgelines and on hilltops. Furthermore, the uppermost elite were buried in
large-scale tombs established at the highest point of a given cemetery. [36] Cemeteries with
'uppermost elite' mounded burials such as Okseong-ri, Yangdong-ri, Daeseong-dong, and
Bokcheon-dong display this pattern.

Roof tiles excavated from Goguryeo archaeological sites in the Han River valley, from National Museum of
Korea.

Factory-scale production of pottery and roof-tiles[edit]

Lee Sung-joo proposed that, in addition to the development of regional political hierarchies as seen
through analysis of burials, variation in types of pottery production gradually disappeared and full-
time specialization was the only recognizable kind of pottery production from the end of the 4th
century A.D. At the same time the production centers for pottery became highly centralized and
vessels became standardized.[36]
Centralisation and elite control of production is demonstrated by the results of the archaeological
excavations at Songok-dong and Mulcheon-ni in Gyeongju. These sites are part of what was an
interconnected and sprawling ancient industrial complex on the northeast outskirts of the Silla
capital. Songok-dong and Mulcheon-ri are an example of the large-scale of specialized factory-style
production in the Three Kingdoms and Unified Silla Periods. The site was excavated in the late
1990s, and archaeologists found the remains of many production features such as pottery kilns,
roof-tile kilns, charcoal kilns, as well as the remains of buildings and workshops associated with
production.

Capital cities, elite precincts, and monumental architecture[edit]

Since the establishment of Goguryeo, its early history is well attested archaeologically: The first and
second capital cities, Jolbon and Gungnae city, are located in and around today's Ji'an, Jilin. In
2004, the site was designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Since 1976, continuing
archaeological excavations concentrated in the southeastern part of modern Gyeongju have
revealed parts of the so-called Silla Wanggyeong (Silla royal capital). A number of excavations over
the years have revealed temples such as Hwangnyongsa, Bunhwangsa, Heungryunsa, and 30 other
sites. Signs of Baekje's capitals have also been excavated at the Mongchon Fortress and
the Pungnap Fortress in Seoul.

See also[edit]
 Heavenly Horse Tomb
 List of Korean monarchs
 Samguk Yusa

References