▲ This photo of the trial excavation area at the Changui Village site in Pungnap-dong, Seoul, is provided by the Korea Heritage Service. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

SEOUL, Nov. 25 (Yonhap) -- 

The National Seoul Research Institute of Cultural Heritage under the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, Korea Heritage Service, said on Tuesday it has launched an academic excavation at the Changui Village site in Pungnap-dong, Songpa District, southeastern Seoul. 

 

The site originally housed a dormitory for Korea Exchange Bank employees built in 1983. The building was later repurposed and operated for about 20 years from 2004 as the Seoul English Village Pungnap Camp.

 

Before the site was used as an English village, a trial excavation conducted in 2000 for redevelopment of the dormitory uncovered earthenware pits, burned features and what is presumed to be a lotus pond, raising the possibility that key facilities associated with the Baekje kingdom’s Hanseong-period capital had existed in the area.

 

▲ This photo of the trial excavation area at the Changui Village site in Pungnap-dong, Seoul, is provided by the Korea Heritage Service. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

This marks the first investigation inside Pungnap Earthen Fortification in more than a decade, following excavations at the Mirae Village site conducted from 2004 to 2011, where the largest hexagonal building site within the fortress and various road facilities were identified.

 

The institute said the latest excavation is expected to shed clearer light on the functions of core facilities previously presumed to be government buildings and lotus ponds.

 

It plans to conduct a systematic excavation and share the findings to help promote the historical value of Baekje’s Hanseong-era capital.

 

[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]