Drivers of Internal Development and City Structure Formation in the Sabi Capital City of Baekje

The Sabi capital city of Baekje is believed to have been organized according to a structured spatial division centered around the palace, adopting the planning principles of contemporary neighboring states. In particular, the Gwanbuk-ri and Gua-ri areas along the southern slope of Busosan Mounain have been identified as core regions within the capital, based on the remains of the large-scale building structures, and is believed to have been used as an official or residential area divided by major road networks. While it is thought that the Sabi capital city was established after the main infrastructures, such as the palace and the outer-boundary city walls, were established, there are few archaeological cases that date to the early period of its establishment. Moreover, the unclear context of artifacts, whichwere previously thought to reflect the early phase of the capital relocation, has raised the need for a re-evaluation of the early landscape of the capital. Previous studies have often assumed that external technological and ideological elements were transplanted during the development of the Sabi capital city or have emphasized a technological deterministic perspective. This study, however, moves away from these viewpoints by considering natural environmental factors and population pressure as drivers that influenced the development of the Sabi capital city, where the focus is placed on dynamically relating the changing aspects of the city while explaining the formation and maintenance of its core structure. To achieve this, AMS radiocarbon dating data collected from 46 sites within the Sabi capital city were compiled, and cumulative probabilities of radiocarbon dates were calculated. Based on this, the land occupation patterns and trends of change in both highland and lowland areas of the city were examined. The results of the analysis suggest that the lowland areas, which were exposed to the risk of flooding, may not have been developed for a considerable period of time even after the capital city’s relocation. Conversely, the highland areas showed continuous occupation patterns from before relocation until the fall of Baekje. In particular, the Ssangbuk-ri area on the southern slope of Busosan displayed distinct characteristics compared to other regions in terms of the aspects of major road network arrangements and the density of the main artifacts, such as inkstones.