Type and Characteristics of fabrics excavated from Chonmachong of Shilla Era - focused on the fabrics which are in the Kyongju Museum′s collection -

신라시대 천마총 출토 직물의 유형과 특성 -현 경주박물관 소장직물을 중심으로-

The Chonmachong (Tumulus No. 155 in Whangnam-dong, Kyungju, Korea), which was unearthed in 1973, is an ancient tomb built in the Shilla Era between the 5th∼6th centuries by the method of Juk-suk-mok-gwak. With the excavation of this tomb more than 11,500 articles of luxurious and splendid relics including gold and silver ornaments, weaponry and horse gears were obtained. Among the excavated articles, the saddle flap with a drawing of flying horse on it is the first relic of its kind from the Shilla Era. and 'Chonma'(a flying horse), the name of the tomb. was named after this drawing. The saddle flap is highly valuable in that it provides the idea of how goad the people of Shilla were at drawing. Although a lot of researches have been released about the relics from the Chonmachong, this study is to focus on the fabrics from the excavation, all of which are in the Kyongiu Museum's collection. The findings of this study are as follows : 1 The subject of this study is mainly on the fabrics used in horse gears, the pieces of cloth that were used to spread on a saddle or to underlay beneath a saddle. As the Shilla Dynasty tried to restrict excessive ornamentation on horses and it is assumed that the fabrics used are different. according to the social status. 2. The subject articles are four plain fabrics, three fabrics of combined -construction and one braid, the warp-faced compound woven silks of combined-construction was found for the first tinge in Korea, and is the typical quality sick with patterns woven with dyed threads in different colors. 3. It is ascertained by the Chonmachong excavation that polychrome woven silk was used not only for the clothes of the upper classes but also for the ornaments of their horses in the Era of the Three Kingdoms.