The horizontal entrance style tombs used during the initial stage in Changnyeong, unlike stone chamber tombs, were based on notions of ‘sacrificial burial’ and ‘generous burial style,’ having the basic structure of an elongated rectangle-shaped stone-lined tomb. Indeed, actual cases of additional burial are rarely found, except for a few in the later periods. This fact clearly demonstrates that the notion of this tomb differed fundamentally from that of the stone chamber tomb. It suggests that the ‘horizontal entrance style tomb’, distributed around the Gyo-dong and Songhyeon-dong burial sites in Changnyeong, was best suited to ‘stone-lined tombs with horizontal entrances’.
The appearance of the ‘stone-lined tomb with horizontal entrance’ seems to have been influenced by the stone chamber tombs of the Goguryeo or Baekje kingdoms, which appeared earlier. However, although a large number of ancient tombs in Changnyeong were investigated until recently, archaeological data relating to Goguryeo and Baekje have been hardly found. In addition, differences with the stone chamber tomb can also be observed in terms of ancient tomb construction. In particular, it has been repeatedly confirmed that no additional burials were undertaken.
This study investigated the process of constructing a stone-lined tomb with horizontal entrance to identify the actual purpose and function of the horizontal entrance. This eventually made it possible to deduce how a stone-lined tomb with horizontal entrance appeared and spread in the Changnyeong region.
As a result of comprehensive investigation on the process of constructing a stone-lined tomb with a horizontal entrance, it is judged that a lateral entrance facility (or a horizontal entrance) for stone-lined tombs was designed for the efficient construction of large stone-lined tombs, as well as to function as a ‘work passage’ in the actual construction process.
Consequently, based on the above reasoning of how the stone-lined tomb with horizontal entrance style appeared, its appearance can also be seen to have been closely related to the appearance of ancient tombs with huge burial mounds and huge burial facilities. The stone-lined tomb with horizontal entrance spread through the interactions of adjacent groups, which was mediated by the Nakdong River and its tributaries.