The Technology and the Provenance Study on Gilt-Copper Crown Excavated from Tomb No.63 of the Ancient Tumuli in Gyo-dong/ Songhyeon-dong, Changnyeong

Abstract

An excavation project conducted by the Gaya National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage discovered a gilt-copper crown in Tomb No. 63 of the ancient tumuli in Gyodong and Songhyeon-dong, Changyeong. This study analyzed the aforementioned crown and identified the certified group and the source of raw materials according to the manufacturing technique. Scientific analysis confirmed that the crown was made of unalloyed copper and the surface was plated with gold and silver using the mercury amalgam technique. The gilded surface color is divided into red and yellow, and this is presumed to be due to differences in manufacturing processes such as thickness and heat treatment according to the number of times it was gilded. The copper raw material used to manufacture the crown is identified as Zone 3 including Jeolla-do, Chungcheong-do, and northern Gyeongsang-do, and the origin of the raw material and excavation site are not the same. Therefore, it is judged that raw materials from a different region than the excavated area of Changnyeong were used, and the possibility that these were supplied from other regions and manufactured in Changnyeong cannot be excluded.