From the ancient tomb No.1 in Imdang, Gyeongsan, three ear ornaments were excavated.
Each ear ornament was discovered at the location of a head from the dead and the attendant sacrificially buried in the main coffin together, and from another attendant sacrificially buried in the subsidiary coffin of burial goods, which suggests that ear ornaments were carried on the deceased. After conservation treatment for excavated ear ornaments, manufacturing techniques and characteristic of the surface were investigated through microscopy, and base materials were analyzed by SEM-EDS to identify base materials. Based on the type of ear ornaments, they can be classified into different periods in the order of attendant’s ornament in the subsidiary coffin, attendant’s ornament in the main coffin and buried person’s ornament in the main coffin. However, it should be considered that the former type of the ear ornament can be continued into the following period as well as buried persons belonged to the different class.
It is more underpinned by that different base materials for those ornaments were used by the social status of buried persons and the elemental composition and manufacturing techniques are also differently applied by functions and characteristics of ear ornaments. On the whole, the gold content of ear ornaments from the dead is higher than that from the attendant buried with the dead, and silver contents of structural areas is higher than that of decorative areas.
It is thought that they were manufactured with intentionally increased strength of alloy to support their weight and structure. In other words, it suggests that the study on ear ornaments can vary according to the elemental composition and buried type beyond their shape-based types. In addition, it is expected that this study will be utilized as fundamental materials to find out the regional correlation of ear ornaments between regions of Sila focusing Gyeongsan through more delicate and various analyses.