Artworks

Gold crown from the Gold Crown Tomb

Artwork · Anonymous · 5th century–6th century · crown · Gyeongju National Museum

The royal sheet-gold crown excavated from the Gold Crown tomb in Kyŏngju in 1922: tree- and antler-shaped uprights point to Siberian shamanism, while the curved jade pendants (kogok) recall finds in Japan; comparisons have been drawn with a Sarmatian crown at Novocherkassk and with Tillya Tepe in Bactria. Ten gold crowns have been excavated in Korea — signs of rank as well as of religious symbolism. 1 Portal 2000, pp. 62–63, fig. 33. ↩ Literatur Portal 2000: Jane Portal, Korea: Art and Archaeology, London: British Museum Press 2000.