A Study on the Location of Entrance of the Pithouse at Songguk-ri Site, Buyeo, Korea

The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of two holes identified in the middle of the oval-shape feature in the Korean Bronze Age pithouses at Songguk-ri, Buyeo Korea. Pithouses dated to the Bronze Age have turned out to be one of the most abundant archaeological features in Korea. Therefore, a detailed research concerning pithouses has been conducted and a number of characteristics have been known so far. Although many researchers have long been interested in the location of entrance to pithouses, it has not yet been clearly known. Oval-shape features have been exposed in the center of Songguk-ri style(roundish) pithouses. It is generally accepted that they are not hearths. Rather, they have been regarded as either a temporary storage pit or a stone tool manufacturing pit(a workshop for stone tools). Researchers have been paying a close attention to the two holes discovered in the oval-shape feature. Some researchers consider them to be either central post holes or ordinary post holes. However, we formulated a hypothesis that the oval-shape feature is the trace of people's movement and two holes are the marks generated by the legs of a ladder for entrance to the pithouse. To test this hypothesis we utilized many different Chinese historical documents and ethnographic observations in conjunction with the pithouses of the aboriginal peoples who inhabited in both Siberia and Alaska regions. It turned out that the documentary sources and observations made by European explorers and Russian researchers well correspond and provide a critical information about overall structure and the location of the entrance of pithouse. Based on the outcome of the analysis against the archaeological data from Songguk-ri site, we came to a conclusion that there was a high possibility that the two holes were the marks of the legs of a ladder for entrance and an opening/window/chimney was located on top of the roof of the pithouse.