The Ganghwa Dolmens

Korea has more dolmens than anywhere else on earth, tens of thousands of them, and the sites at Ganghwa, Gochang and Hwasun were listed together for that reason. The Ganghwa group is the one most people see, because the island is within reach of Seoul and because of the Bugeun-ri dolmen: a northern or table type, two upright slabs carrying a capstone several metres across, standing in a field with nothing else around it. More are scattered up the slopes of Goryeosan nearby, some of them genuinely hard to find. Nobody is certain how the capstones were moved. A small museum beside the main stone covers what is known and what is guessed.

History

The dolmens marked the graves of the ruling elite and served for rituals in the first millennium BC, when the megalithic culture flourished on the Korean Peninsula, and pottery, comma-shaped jewels, bronzes and stone tools have been excavated from them. Korea holds more than 35,000 dolmens, about 40 per cent of the world's total, and the Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa sites more than 1,000 of them; scholars still debate whether the custom came by sea from Southeast Asia with rice farming, from Neolithic peoples of Manchuria and southern Siberia, or grew up on the peninsula itself, where two distinct styles, northern and southern, meet roughly along the Bukhan River. The three sites became a World Heritage Site in 2000 (Wikipedia, Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites).

Highlights

• The Bugeun-ri dolmen - the large table-type stone standing alone in its field.
• The Goryeosan group - smaller dolmens scattered up the hillside above.
• The museum - the site display on how the stones were quarried and raised.
• The setting - farmland and low hills, much the same ground the builders worked.

When to go

Spring and autumn suit the island; the field is fully exposed and there is no shade in summer. Mornings are quiet. Ganghwa is a long bus ride from Seoul, so most people combine the dolmens with the rest of the island rather than coming for the stones alone. The museum keeps a weekly closing day.

What to expect

It is a large stone in a field, and the visit takes fifteen minutes unless the museum interests you. There is no excavation to look at and little on the spot to explain what you are seeing. The hillside dolmens need a map, decent shoes and patience. Getting to Ganghwa and back eats most of a day.

Nearby

Jeondeungsa temple and the island's coastal road are a short drive; Incheon is an hour south.

Key facts