“It smells like mummy” Archaeologists’ resilience…The two mistresses of the Imjin War were discovered side by side

Recently, the Cultural Heritage Administration announced the designation of’Osan Guseongi and Yeohungyi’s grave excavation costumes (total 96 cases, 124 pieces)’ as a national folk cultural property, which can grasp the costume culture and commerce and funeral customs of women in the middle of the Joseon Dynasty. Guseong Lee and Yeohung Lee refer to the protagonists of each tomb, and were discovered in a mummified state side by side in 2010. Due to the circumstances of excavation, it is believed to be the ex-wife and future wife of a squadron who lived before the Imjin War in the 16th century.

“It smells like a pine coffin. It smells like a mummy!”

On May 8, 2010, staff at Seogyeong Cultural Heritage Research Institute gathered at the top of the hill at the construction site of Gaejang 2 General Industrial Complex in Osan, Gyeonggi-do, and various archaeological experts shouted in front of the wooden coffin lifted by excavators. They gathered at the construction site when they heard the news that they discovered the Joseon Dynasty Hoegwak tomb during the excavation and investigation of cultural properties. These tombs, called Hoegwak-myo or Hoegyeok-myo (灰隔墓), block air passage by filling the area around the coffin with lime, often resulting in mummified human bones within the coffin.

When I opened one end of the tube lid slightly in the shade, it was delayed due to the smell, and the likelihood of this expectation becoming reality increased. When the tube is exposed to the sun, the color of the costume changes quickly, so the researchers wrapped the tube well, moved it to the autopsy room of a hospital in Seoul, and gathered again the next day. It was for the work of haepo (解布) in which various kinds of salt-wetting clothes were stripped one by one from the body. The work that each major started at 9 a.m. to take great care together continued beyond 3 p.m. When the last shroud was pulled down slightly, the mummy’s ears and neck were exposed. Although it turned slightly black, the skin texture remained as it was, and when the cloth covered with the face was removed, the dent cheekbones and shiny teeth were clearly revealed.

It was a woman. It was 154cm tall, 74cm chest circumference, 50cm arm length, and 23.5cm foot size. On the lid of the wooden coffin, a myeongjeong (銘旌) with the words “宜人驪興李氏之柩” and a wardrobe covering the coffin were found. Myeongjeong is a flag that is put on the cover of the coffin after leading the way in front of the bonus by writing down the name of the deceased at the funeral to reveal the identity of the deceased. Through this, it was possible to know that the husband of the deceased, who was called Yeohung Lee, had six items at the time of Lee’s death.

And in less than a month, the investigation team unearthed another female mummified tomb in the near future. This time, on the cover of the coffin, a memorial was written with the words’儒人駒城李氏之柩(Yoo In Guseongi’s District)’. At the time of Guseong Lee’s death, her husband’s number was confirmed as genuine. The mummy, which seems to have lived 20 to 30 years earlier than the first mummy, was 145cm tall, 70cm chest circumference, 43cm arm length, and 20.5cm foot size. “The skin turned black, but the upper and lower teeth, nose, fingerprints, and nail shapes remained intact,” said Seong-ho Jeon, head of the research team at Seogyeong Cultural Heritage Research Institute, who participated in both excavations. “It is estimated that he died at an early age around the age of 20. That’s it,” he recalled in a call with the JoongAng Ilbo on the 26th.

The relationship between the two was easily resolved by checking another tomb nearby. The body was not preserved as a mummy because all the coffins were rotted, but human bones belonged to men, so they were presumed to be their husbands. The man who would have been a father of the Joseon Dynasty would have first married Gu Sung Lee (the mummies found later), and when he was 9 pum, his young wife passed away. Yeo Heung Lee (first found mummy) remarried, but the second wife also passed away after her husband rose to six. It is not known whether her husband died before Yeohung Lee.

“In the Joseon Dynasty, people who lived well in the Joseon Dynasty, powerful yangbans covered their graves with lime thick to prevent pests. So, mummies that don’t appear in the graves of common people often come out of these graves. Also, at the funeral, the deceased put on the clothes that the deceased normally wore first, and then followed the procedure to sing and renounce. After putting the body in the coffin, the empty space was filled with clothes and objects by family and acquaintances as a kind of wealth. That’s why men’s and children’s clothes come out of women’s coffins.”

This is explained by Eunjoo Lee, a professor at Andong University (Convergence Contents Studies), an expert in the history of costumes in the Joseon Dynasty. In fact, at the tomb of Guseong Lee and Yeohung Lee, a variety of costumes and props came out together. The tomb of Lee, who died when her husband was a relatively low nine, had 41 points and 51 points, and the tomb of Yeoheung Lee, who died after being promoted to six items, had 55 and 73 points. It is unusual for both ex-wife and later-wife mummies to be discovered at the same time, but there is a 20 to 30 year gap between them, so it is possible to glimpse the changes in the clothing between them. In particular, it was found as it was attached to a mummified human bone, and it is highly preserved and has a high cultural property value. The Cultural Heritage Administration stated that these relics are “an important point to show a glimpse of traditional funeral methods such as the process of dying of women in the Joseon Dynasty in that they show various costumes of yangban family women in the mid- to late 16th century before the Imjin Invasion (1592). It is evaluated as data.”

In particular, the’garima’, which was excavated as worn on the head of the body, allows you to actually check how to wear a woman’s hat (hat), which was only conveyed in records. ‘Danryeong-type Wonsam’, which has a round neckline like a men’s official uniform, shows the early appearance of Wonsam. The’front-back long-sleeved skirt’, made by folding the front part of the skirt, and making the front short and the back long, is a dress that is only confirmed during the pre-Imjin War period. In addition, the’embroidered needle house norigae’, which has a role as a practical daily accessory and accessory, remains intact with detailed decorations, so you can check the embroidery technique of the time. Earlbits, charmbits, earpicks, and brushes, with few unearthed examples are also valuable relics. Interestingly, the relics excavated from the tomb of Yeohung Lee, who was her spouse when her husband was in a relatively high position, are more ordinary.

Also, axillary wrinkles (foam with wrinkles under both armpits) and Cheolrik (Chosun dynasty) were used as suryejiui (clothes put according to the custom of putting the clothes of spouses, brothers, sisters, and other family members in the graves of the dead). Thanks to the fasting clothes worn by any of the times), it is possible to grasp the characteristics of contemporary men’s clothing. These costumes that give you a glimpse into the wardrobes of the family’s four hundred years ago have been preserved and are now in the Suwon Museum in Gyeonggi Province.

Reporter Kang Hye-ran [email protected]