신라 조기 경주지역 목곽묘의 전개와 사로국 내부의 통합과정

The Development of the Wooden Chamber Burials of The Development of the Wooden Chamber Burials of Process of Saro-guk in the Incipient Silla Period

본고에서는 경주지역의 신라 조기 고분유적들을 분석하여 목곽묘의 전개과정과 고분군의 변화과정을 통해 사로국으로부터 신라국가로 전환되어 갈 무렵의 경주지역, 즉 사로국 내부가 통합되어 가는 모습을 추적해 보고자 하였다. 경주지역은 형산강이 관통하는 분지지구와 형산강의 본류 및 그 지류가 흐르는 4개의 곡간지구로 이루어져 있는데, 원삼국시대 후기 이래 신라 조기에는 분지지구의 월성북고분군을 정점으로 하여 각 지구에서 고분군들이 조영되었다. 그런데 원삼국시대 말부터 고분군들 사이에서는 목곽묘의 구조에 차별성이 표출되기 시작하여, 신라 조기에는 그 차별성이 더욱 강화되었다. 묘곽의 형식이 분화되어, 월성북고분군에서는 이혈주부곽식 목곽묘가 배타적으로 조영된 것으로 보이는 반면 다른 고분군들에서는 가장 상위 위계의 목곽묘로도 동혈주부곽식이나 좀 규모가 큰 단독곽식의 목곽묘가 축조되었고, 유적에 따라 목곽묘의 구조와 출토 유물에서도 차별성이 드러난다. 한편 목곽묘들은 묘곽의 규모가 5개의 그룹으로 나누어지고, 그에 출토 유물을 결합한 목곽묘의 랭크도 5단계로 구분되는데, 시기가 내려오면서 유적에 따라 묘곽 규모의 그룹 분포 위치와 목곽묘들의 랭크에 변화가 있었다. 그것은 월성북고분군 조영세력, 즉 사로국의 중심세력이 각 지구 고분군 조영세력들을 재편해 나갔던 과정으로, 각 지구 고분군에서는 목곽묘의 규모가 축소되고 부장유물은 격감하여 그 조영세력의 위상이 격하 재편되는 것이 일반적이었지만, 울산 방면의 동남부지구에서는 그와 반대로 오히려 위상이 강화된 결과를 나타내는 유적들도 있었다. 이들은 중심세력의 전략적 필요에 의해 일시적으로, 또는 상당 기간 그 후원을 받고 있었던 것으로 보인다. 이와 같이 경주지역 신라 조기 목곽묘들의 전개과정은 사로국 내부의 통합과정을 보여 주고 있으며, 그때 표출된 고분군별 차별성은 중심고분군과 각 지구 고분군 사이의 격차가 심해지면서, 그리고 중심세력의 각 지구 고분군 조영세력에 대한 차별적인 지배 관계에 따라 나타난 것이었다.

This paper analyzes the burial grounds of the Incipient Silla period in order to explore how wooden chamber burials developed over time, as well as to examine the developmental process of each burial ground. Based on the results of the study, attempts are made to trace the internal consolidation process of Saro-guk, which was based in the Gyeongju region, around the time at which it developed into the Silla state. The Gyeongju region consists of a central basin zone, through which flows the Hyeongsan River, and four local valley zones formed by the main stream and tributaries of the Hyeongsan River. From the late Proto-Three Kingdoms period to the Incipient Silla period, burial grounds came to be established and maintained in all of the zones; of these, the Wolseong North burial ground was the paramount burial ground. From the end of the Proto-Three Kingdoms period, differentiation between burial grounds began to emerge in terms of the structure of the wooden chamber burial, and this differentiation became more pronounced during the Incipient Silla period. This differentiation involved burial chamber structure, with the type of wooden chamber burial consisting of a main burial chamber and an additional grave goods compartment located in a separate pit (異穴主副槨式) used only at the Wolseong-ro North Burial Ground. In contrast to this, even the higher ranked burials of the other burial grounds consisted only of wooden chamber burials which had the additional grave goods compartment located within the same pit as the main burial chamber (同穴主副槨式) or wooden chamber burials featuring only the main burial chamber, albeit larger in scale. Inter-site variation in terms of the architecture of the wooden burial chamber and the grave goods assemblage could also be observed in the case of some sites. The wooden chamber burials were divided into five groups according to burial chamber size, and in conjunction with the grave goods assemblage, five ranks were established for the burials. Diachronic change could be observed at the burial grounds, in terms of the rank composition of the burials and the location of the differently sized burials within the burial ground. This can be seen to be associated with the re-organization of the groups that established the respective burial grounds by the central political group of Saro-guk, as represented by the Wolseong North Burial Ground. The majority of the burial grounds witnessed a reduction in burial chamber scale and a sharp decrease in the quantity of grave goods, indicating that this political re-organization was accompanied by a marked decline in the status of the relevant groups. However, in the case of the burial grounds of the south-eastern zone, neighboring the Ulsan region, the opposite was observed. It may be that these specific groups had received the backing of the central political group, either temporarily or for a considerable length of time, according to the strategic needs of this central group. It can thus be suggested that the developmental process of the wooden chamber burials of the Gyeongju region of the Incipient Silla period well represents the process of internal consolidation of Saro-guk. Differentiation between the Wolseong North burial ground and the other burial grounds, as well as differentiation amongst the latter, which emerged around the dawn of the Incipient Silla period and became more marked over time, can be seen to represent the different types of relationships of control that were established between the central political group and the political groups of each burial ground.