Archaeological Review of Prehistoric Stone Mound Tombs of the Southern Liaodong Peninsula, China

Stone mound tombs, in which the deceased was placed upon the ground and the burial covered by stones, have a restricted spatial distribution and are observed mainly in the southern Liaodong Peninsula of China, the Amnok (Yalu) River basin, and the Han River basin. In this study, analysis was undertaken on the prehistoric stone mound tombs of the southern Liaodong Peninsula of China in order to lay down the foundations for future re-search on the relationship between the stone mound tombs of the different regions. The stone mound tomb was built from the end of the Neolithic Age until the introduc-tion of iron culture exclusively within the southern Liaodong Peninsula region; therefore, it can be regarded as a very conservative and exclusive tomb tradition. Stone mound tombs can be divided according to structure type into linear attached multiple tombs and clusters of single tombs featuring multiple burials. An increase in the latter can be observed over time. A change in burial method from single individual to multiple individual burials in tombs occurred, and cremation took place at multiple individual tombs. Linear attached tombs corresponded with single individual burials, and clustered tombs corresponded with multiple individual burials. Cremation also increased over time. The stone mound tombs of the southern Liaodong Peninsula were popularly used during the Bronze Age but their use came to an end around the period of the Warring States and the Qin-Han transition in the Chinese mainland. The stone mound tombs of Gangouzi, Changbai, in the upper-middle reaches of the Amnok River and the stone mound tombs of Seokchon-dongg, Seoul, are linear attached multiple tombs, the stone mound tombs in Jeongseon, Gwangju, and Yongin are clusters of single tombs featuring multiple burials. Therefore it can be said that there are similarities, in terms of structure and buri-al method, between these tombs of the Amnok and Han River regions and those of the southern Liaodong Peninsula, although a direct casual relationship cannot be posited. This relationship must be further explored within Korean archaeology, as the appearance and termination of the stone mound tomb tradition in the southern Liaodong Peninsula is re-spectively linked to the Neolithic Age to Bronze Age transition and the Bronze Age to Iron Age transition.