This study is intended to clarify the dwelling site’s feature of Gwangyang Bay area aroung 1st through 6th centuries. With the recent surge in excavation data in this area, researchers have been able to identify many data that allow them to explore the housing culture of the 1st and 6th centuries. In previous studies, Gwangyang Bay area has been known to have the most developed circular housing culture among eastern South Jeolla Province. The reason for this was that the residential culture of this area, which began in the Bronze Age, did not develop, but was inherited. So the residential culture was recognized as a marginal culture, not a centralization of Mahan. A recent study notes that the area is similar to the western part of South Gyeongsang Province in relation to the circular housing culture identified in the area. In
this study, we will review the residential culture of Gwangyang Bay area and examine the process of changing the residential culture of this area in comparison with the surrounding areas. There have been a total of three changes in the residential structure identified in the Gwangyang Bay area. Also, there have been a total of four changes in the excavated relics. In total, it is divided into five stages In eastern South Jeolla Province, including Gwangyang Bay Area, a traditional blood-collecting type of house, the wall-shaped circular residence was confirmed. The housing structure identified during this period is a common form found in western South Jeolla Province and western South Gyeongsang Province, and the composition of the excavated relics is also confirmed by the construction of hard-plain pottery and tanal mun pottery. The western part of South Jeolla Province, after the second half of the second century, rapidly transformed the structure of the four-pillars type dwelling into a Tanal mun pottery. As a result, a square-shaped residential area is emerging at Goheung Peninsula in the Bosung River basin region among eastern regions. However, traditional wall-shaped circular dwellings are found in the Gwangyang Bay area and the western part of South Gyeongsang Province. In the excavated relics, the hard-plain pottery was produced in large numbers, and a little bit of the tanal mun pottery and Mahan-gye double-ear pottery were found. In the 4th century, new types of round wall stocks and square wall stocks emerged in Gwangyang Bay. The excavated relics also show the emergence of Wanyeong Mu-Tu pedestal dish and Seung Seok Mun double-ear pottery, which are representative forms of
western Gyeongnam Province. The pattern is similarly confirmed in western South Gyeongsang Province. However, in the Goheung Peninsula and the Bosung River Basin region, the ratio of four-pillars type dwelling will increase, and four-column residences will emerge.
Starting in the 5th century, four-pillars type dwelling and four-pillars plus wall-share dwellings will be newly identified in Gwangyang Bay. The excavated relics are also diverse in Gaya, Japanese, and Baekje relics. In particular, the pottery of Gaya was found the perforated cup was introduced.
Starting in the middle of the 6th century, the number of blood transfusion dwellings in the Gwangyang Bay area will decrease. The residential structures identified during this period are identified as wall-type dwellings and ground-type buildings. Wall-type square dwellings are identified with the use of boulders among their dwellings. As Baekje fortresses and tombs were confirmed around the area, the excavated relics, including the Three Kingdoms Period, were also confirmed. In other words, the area is believed to have entered into the territory of Baekje in the middle of the 6th century.
Previously, the eastern part of South Jeolla Province, including Gwangyang Bay Area, was recognized as a change in the Mahan area as differences in archaeological aspects from the western part of South Jeolla Province were identified. In addition, the Gwangyang Bay area has been known to be behind the Goheung Peninsula and Bosung River Basin in the eastern part of South Jeolla Province. But this is believed to be because it focused on Mahan''s
standardization. It is believed that it was affected by the proximity of the Goheung Peninsula and the Bosung River basin in the western part of South Jeolla Province. On the other hand, the Gwangyang Bay Area is undergoing a similar process as the western part of South Gyeongsang Province because of its proximity to the western part of South Gyeongsang Province. In other words, the Goheung Peninsula, the Bosung River Basin region and the Gwangyang Bay area are estimated to have different processes of change through exchange with the surrounding areas.