KJCKorea
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This study examines the growth process of regional polities in the western Gyeonggi region, located along the lower reaches of the Han River and the west coast of Korea, and their relationships with surrounding polities. By reviewing existing scholarship on these regional polities, this paper highlights the necessity of viewing the region as a historical subject and suggests key points for future discussion. The western Gyeonggi region can be categorized into three areas based on natural topography—Gimpo-Ganghwa, Northern Incheon, and Southern Incheon—each hosting regional polities that utilized mounded burials (bungu-myo). This study primarily analyzes the Unyang-dong site in Gimpo and the Yeonhui-dong site in Incheon to compare the two groups and identify the characteristics of mounded burials in the region. The Unyang-dong group spearheaded the growth of the western Gyeonggi region from the mid-2nd century, interring prestige goods such as gold earrings and a significant quantity of ironware into large-scale mounded burials. In the 3rd century, while several cemetery sites began to be formed across the western Gyeonggi region, including the Yeonhui-dong site, the Unyang-dong site showed a gradual decline. Furthermore, a chronological trend was identified in which the quantity of iron burial goods decreased while pottery offerings and related rituals increased, suggesting a shift in exchange networks or methods of status expression. In historical studies, the prevailing view associates these western Gyeonggi polities with the Biryu group in Samguk Sagi (三國史記) or Sinbungo-guk in Sanguozhi (三國志). However, one must be cautious of simplistic interpretations that establish a one-to-one correspondence between specific archaeological sites and the small states or historical events recorded in written sources. Nevertheless, the dynamic relationship between the Chinese commanderies and Han (韓) society during the 2nd and 3rd centuries, as revealed in the “Han” section of Sanguozhi, can serve as a valid framework for interpreting the material culture of the western Gyeonggi region. It is also necessary to move beyond the perspective of unilateral absorption and centralized consolidation by Baekje, instead positioning the western Gyeonggi polities as active agents to clarify their multifaceted relationships with surrounding powers. Accordingly, this paper proposes two areas for further research: the networks between regional polities in the southern Gyeonggi and Chungcheong regions, and the patterns of mutual exchange with central Baekje. In the case of the former, it was confirmed that the region was connected to southern Gyeonggi and the Gokgyo-cheon Basin of Chungcheong through distribution networks of Jinhan and Byeonhan style iron weapons and agate beads. In the case of the latter, the morphological features of pottery lids suggest the possibility of mutual influence between central Baekje and the western Gyeonggi region. The growth of the Baekje state was a product of a dynamic history shaped by regional polities competing and cooperating through their respective networks. Therefore, rather than viewing Baekje as the sole subject and peripheral forces as mere objects, the reality of early Baekje history can be better understood by simultaneously considering the patterns of growth and decline of each regional polity.

The Yeongsan River Basin is a term referring to the Yeongsan River watershed and its surrounding areas, which share broadly similar material culture and are characterized by the construction of large jar coffins and monumental mound tombs. Existing scholarship in ancient Korean history and archaeology has produced a substantial body of research on the timing and processes through which Baekje integrated the polities of the Yeongsan River Basin, largely based on mortuary evidence. While these studies have yielded important new insights, they have also exposed significant limitations. Most notably, they rest on the uncritical assumption that the polities of the Yeongsan River Basin were incorporated into Baekje’s local administrative system through a uniform process, and they tend to overlook the agency and diversity of local leaders involved in this integration. This study traces the growth of early polities and the emergence of chiefly authority in the Yeongsan River Basin from the Early Iron Age onward, adopting a chronological approach. During the Early Iron Age, leaders were buried with various types of bronze ritual objects, whereas in the Proto–Three Kingdoms period their authority increasingly emphasized military symbolism. However, an examination of mound tombs with square or rectangular platforms indicates that, compared to other regions of the Korean Peninsula, the power of local leaders in the Yeongsan River Basin remained limited and did not extend beyond the collective structure of the community. It was not until around the fourth century, as exemplified by the Doksuribong Tomb in Haenam, that mound tombs clearly expressing the personal authority of individual leaders began to appear. After the fifth century, the emergence of monumental mound tombs across the Yeongsan River Basin suggests the rise of powerful local leaders whose authority was distinct from, and not simply subsumed under, the Baekje central regime. Previous studies have generally assumed homogeneity among these local elites and, on that basis, inferred the relationship between the Baekje center and regional polities. However, analysis of tomb structures and grave goods reveals considerable diversity among local leaders. In particular, their responses to Baekje’s reorganization of regional societies into provincial units were far from uniform. This study argues that such varied responses should be reinterpreted from the perspective of ‘participation and exclusion in local governance.

Multiple polities that developed in the eastern Honam region have generally been regarded as peripheral in Korean ancient history. This perception largely stems from the traditional historiographical framework that explains the development of ancient states primarily from the perspective of the centers or capitals of Baekje and Silla. In the process of overcoming this perspective, a new argument emerged suggesting that this region had once formed part of Gaya, and this view is now widely accepted. However, the identity of the polities in this region is far from straightforward and cannot be simply defined as either Baekje or Gaya. The material culture of the numerous small-scale polities differed from one another, and over time they alternately adopted elements of material culture from surrounding polities, including Baekje, Daegaya, Sogaya, and Silla. The level of development among the polities of the eastern Honam region varied considerably, and the degree of chiefly authority was not uniform. Their political approaches and attitudes toward Baekje and Gaya were also not identical, differing from region to region. Accordingly, the polities of the eastern Honam region should not be understood as a single political entity that was incorporated at once by Baekje or Gaya, but rather as multiple polities possessing diverse identities. Moreover, instead of treating them merely as objects incorporated into Baekje, Gaya, or Silla, future research should place these regional polities themselves at the center of analysis.