2,600 years ago, a reservoir was discovered

 Excavation of Bronze Age Reservoir at Andong Jeojeon-ri...Choi Young-chang, the oldest reporter in Korea, ycchoi@munhwa.com More than 1,000 years earlier than Byeokgolje, was excavated from Jeojeon-ri, Seohu-myeon, Andong-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, 2,600 years ago to trap water used for rice paddy farming in the Bronze Age. The existence of a reservoir in Andong, inland of Gyeongsangbuk-do, is of great significance as it shows that intensive rice farming (water farming) was carried out throughout the country before the 6th century BC, not in the form of Cheonsu Dap. Until now, in the case of reservoirs, which are essential irrigation facilities for rice paddy farming, there has been only a record of constructing Byeokgolje in Gimje, Jeollabuk-do, and Uirimji in Jecheon, Chungcheongbuk-do in the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D. Currently, reservoirs such as Byeokgolje were repaired and built much later than this. The Dongyang University Museum (Director Lee Han-sang) announced on the 31st that it discovered reservoir remains with a length of 50m, a maximum width of 15m, and a maximum depth of 2m or more during the investigation of wetlands in the Bronze Age, which began on March 2. The site was originally discovered during the investigation of the "Jeojeon-ri Seondol Ruins" located in the expansion construction section of National Route 5. The excavated remains are artificial nails made by digging the valley area where natural waterways (or small rivers) are located in a flat rectangular shape, and the width of the inlet through which water flows is about 3m, gradually widening as it descends to the lower side, and the southwest corner is angled in a shape. In the southeastern corner, there is a water outlet with a width of about 2m that controls the amount of water, and it is connected to the lower waterway. It seems that there was a wooden beam between the reservoir and the outlet, but wood such as a horse neck, which was sharply trimmed at the end due to flooding, was swept to the lower side of the outlet. As relics, Mumun earthenware and stoneware pieces were excavated from the floor, and among the earthenware, several hole patterns were hung around the lips, so the excavation team believes that the reservoir can be dated to the 8th to 7th centuries B.C. The waterway of the reservoir construction site was also identified on the bottom of the reservoir, and about 15 pieces of earthenware were found completely broken around the newly created artificial waterway after the reservoir was discarded due to floods, raising the possibility of waterfront. Lee Sang-gil, a history professor at Kyungnam University, who has a lot of experience in excavating agricultural relics during the Bronze Age, said, "It must be an artificial reservoir," adding, "It is a groundbreaking relic that shows rice farming was not hunting or gathering in the inland areas of northern Gyeongsangbuk-do." Kim Kwon-koo, director of the Keimyung University Museum, said, "In addition to repair facilities related to rice farming at the ruins of Masan, Geumcheon-ri in Miryang, and Okhyeon in Jung-dong, Ulsan, intensive rice farming was carried out throughout South Korea during the Bronze Age." Professor Lee Sang-gil estimated that there were also Bronze Age rice paddies around the ruins. Lee Han-sang, a professor at Tongyang University in charge of excavation, added, "We will focus on finding rice paddies related to the reservoir through further investigation." Reporter Choi Young-chang: ycchoi@munhwa.com