• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.4-23
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• 2013

Songsalli Ancient Tombs of Gongju consists of seven tombs. King Muryeong's tomb, the seventh tomb, is a brick chamber tomb discovered during the drainage works for the fifth and the sixth tombs in 1971. The excavation at the time focused on topographic surveys of the tomb entrance and the inside of the burial chamber as well as collection of the remains. The burial mount survey confirmed the status of some stone slab remaining and lime-mixed soil layers, but the survey did not examine the exterior structure of the whole tomb as the mounds were removed even more deeply. The excavation revealed damages to the bricks and mural damages due to moisture and fungus in the sixth and the seventh tombs. Between 1996 and 1997, Gongju National University conducted a comprehensive detailed survey of Songsalli Ancient Tombs including a geophysical survey, with an aim to identify the root causes of such degradation. Based on the results, repair took place in 1999 and the fifth, sixth and seventh tombs were placed under permanent conservation to conserve the cultural assets. General public is currently denied access. The purpose of this study was to conduct a three-dimensional resistivity and GPR surveys on the ground surface of the fifth, sixth and seventh tombs of Songsalli Ancient Tombs in order to understand the underground status after repair. The study also aimed to understand the thickness of all the tomb walls and exterior structure based on GPR inside King Muryeong's tomb. The exploration on the ground surface found that the three tombs and soil adjacent to the tombs had resistivity as low as 5 to $90{\Omega}m$, which confirmed that the soil water content was still as high as that prior to the repair work. Additionally, GPR found that the wall construction of the burial chamber of King Muryeong's tomb was approximately 70cm in thickness, while the structure was of 2B with two bricks, about 35cm in length, put together longitudinally(2B brick masonry). The pathway to the burial chamber was of the 2B structure just like that of the burial chamber walls, while its thickness was 80cm with an eyebrow-type arch connected to it. Also, the ceiling exterior appears to have an arch structure, identical to the shape inside.