Status and Utilization of Roof Tiles with Inscription from the Goryeo Dynasty in the Chungcheongbuk-do Region

Roof tiles with inscriptions are defined as tiles bearing characters or symbols on their surface. These tiles are significant not only in archaeology but also in historical studies because they provide clues for understanding the nature of archaeological sites and sometimes contain information not recorded in historical documents. This study compiled the status of Goryeo Dynasty roof tiles with inscriptions reported in the Chungcheongbuk-do region by site and reviewed the main inscriptions by era and site characteristics to aid other researchers. This study examined 94 sites reported in Chungcheongbuk-do related to the Goryeo Dynasty until November 2025, where roof tiles with inscriptions were recovered. The overall geographical distribution of these sites is as follows: 28 sites in Cheongju, 15 sites in Chungju, 8 sites in Jecheon, 8 sites in Yeongdong, 7 sites in Okcheon, 7 sites in Eumseong, 6 sites in Boeun, 5 sites in Jincheon, 4 sites in Goesan, 3 sites in Danyang, and 3 sites in Jeungpyeong. The local supreme officials were located in Cheongju and Chungju in the Goryeo Dynasty, and they accounted for 30 and 16%, respectively. The distribution by site type was as follows: 50 temples, 19 military facilities, 11 government offices, 10 building sites, and 4 unknown sites. Temple sites constituted over half (53%). Eight cases of inscriptions contained era names, which were one Goryeo Dynasty era name, two Song Dynasty era names, two Jin Dynasty era names, and three Yuan Dynasty era names. Unlike other regions, no era names from the Liao Dynasty or the Ming Dynasty have been reported yet. This study also evaluated inscriptions containing “官” and “城” regarding the issue of identifying what the ruling place was. This study also analyzed roof tiles bearing temple names that could help identify the original names of abandoned temple sites and roof tiles with inscriptions excavated from sites presumed to be hostel temples and medium-to-small-scale postal sta Keywords : Chungcheongbuk-do, Goryeo Dynasty, roof tiles with inscriptions, era name, ruling place, temple, postal stations.