A Study on the Large jar Ritual Sites Outside the Protection Stone of Wooden Chamber Tombs with stone mound of Gyeongju

The primary aim of this paper is to understand the basic form of the ritual by way of examining the ritual sites including the large jar outside the protection stones after the construction of stone wooden chamber tombs was completed. The second aim is to investigate how the large jar ritual sites differ according to the hierarchy of the tombs and to determine whether the changes in the form of the ritual jars reflect temporality. To the end, this article seeks to understand the nature and significance of the large jar ritual sites and, ultimately, to gain insight into the contemporary rituals conducted oustide the protection stones during that period. In conclusion, the basic form of the large jar ritual sites in stone wooden chamber tombs is the ‘large jar ritual,’ where the large jar is uprightly fixed on a layer of granule gravel for the ritual. The hierarchical nature of the large jar ritual sites, proportional to the hierarchy of the tombs, suggests that these rituals were likely conducted with a planned approach by the state. Additionally, it was found that the large jar rituals emerged in the mid-5th century and continued to be prevalent in the same form until the early 6th century during the construction period of the dry stone wooden chamber tombs. By the 6th century, the forms became more diverse, evolving from the single method of fixing the large jar. The stone wooden chamber tombs are a distinctive burial type found in the Gyeongju area, the center of Silla, most of all, the Central Ancient Tombs in Gyeongju is the core. Also, the largest number of large jar ritual sites are identified within there. Based on current evidence, it appears that stone wooden chamber tombs had rituals conducted outside the tombs after their construction was completed, starting from the mid-5th century stage of the south mound of Hwangnadaechong Tomb in Gyeongju.