Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites

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The Prehistoric Cemeteries of Gochang, Hwasun, and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites

The Gochang, Hwasun, and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites, collectively referred to as the Three Dolmen Sites, are a group of prehistoric cemeteries located in South Korea. These sites, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000, are significant for their concentration of dolmens, a type of megalithic structure that dates back to the 1st millennium BCE.

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UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site

The prehistoric cemeteries at Gochang, Hwasun, and Ganghwa contain many hundreds of examples of dolmens - tombs from the 1st millennium BC constructed of large stone slabs. They form part of the Megalithic culture, found in many parts of the world, but nowhere in such a concentrated form.

UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site

Criterion (iii) The global prehistoric technological and social phenomenon that resulted in the appearance in the 2nd and 3rd millennia BCE of funerary and ritual monuments constructed of large stones (the "Megalithic Culture") is nowhere more vividly illustrated than in the dolmen cemeteries of Gochang, Hwasun, and Ganghwa.

Encyclopedia Record: Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites

The Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites are the location of hundreds of stone dolmens which were used as grave markers, and for ritual purposes during the first millennium BCE when the Megalithic Culture was prominent on the Korean Peninsula. The sites were designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000. The Korean Peninsula is home to over 35,000 dolmens, accounting for approximately 40% of the world's total; the Gochang, Hwasun, and Ganghwa sites are themselves home to over 1,000 dolmens.

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