Evaluation of Nondestructive Diagnosis and Material Characteristics of Stone Lantern at Damyang Gaeseonsaji Temple Site in Korea

Abstract

The stone lantern of the Damyang Gaeseonsaji temple site is a cultural heritage built during the Unified Silla period (AD 868). The reason for its value as a cultural property is due to wittern the background and the period created on inscription of the lamp stone engraved by letters. The stone lantern consists of two types of lithic tuffs for the 23 original properties, the replaced stones in 1991, and the biotite granite for its ground stones replaced in 2005. The lithic tuffs selected as the replacement parts in 1991 and 2017 have been examined and got to properties of hardly exposure moisture as well as very similar geochemical characteristics. There were various types of physical deterioration of the stone properties and structural cracks; in particular, on the northern side of the stylobates. Chemical and biological deterioration can be identified as black, white, and brown discolorations as well as by the presence of lichens, bryophytes, and herbaceous plants. In the evaluation of the physical properties of the stone lantern, the mean and maximum ultrasonic velocities were found to be similar in each direction. However, the lowest velocity on the east and south sides were found to be lower than those of other stone properties. It was found that physical damage to the stylobates resulted from water expansion in a freeze-to-thaw phenomena related to water content. Therefore, dismantling repair was carried out in the protection facility to restrict further water supply to the stone as much as possible. Key words: Stone lantern, Tuff, Crack, Discoloration, Dismantling repair