Gochang Dolmen Museum

Dolmen is more than an tomb in the dim past. But before we begin, we need to learn the history of dolmen.

Gochang Dolmen Museum

It first appeared at around the time when the Stone Age was shifting to the Bronze Age. Various tools and weapons used to be made of stone before the era, however, the number of people who got an access to bronze and copper increased, they became more powerful than the others who didn't have those tools. As the bronze and copper enabled them to have power to control the others, the concept of hierarchy, ruler, state were born in their society.

Dolmen was made to visualize the death of rulers. Goindol, Korean name of Dolmen, was originated from the word 'Goida' that means 'support(something heavy on it)'.

In December 2000, Gochang Dolmen was listed in the UNESCO World Natural Heritage. Since then, as part of an effort to preserve and maintain the dolmens, the government built the dolmen park and museum. You can't have the experience anywhere else but in Gochang.

There are so many attractions in the Dolmen museum. Dolmen museum provides not only an overall introduction of dolmen, but also the glimpse of the life of those days. You'll see the old ancestors' life in the hut, and also learn how they buried the dead, how they cremated, and how dolmen was created. There are the prehistoric village, yard and dolmen model for experience next to the museum. You can try dragging a real size stone for building up the dolmen, putting the logs on the bottom.

It is 30 minutes distance between the museum and the dolmen sites. You can take a sightseeing train if you want. There are 30,000 dolmens in Korea and 2,000, which is 10% of the total number, are in Gochang. When you stand up on the dolmen field, you'll be amazed at their existence over 3,000 years.