Iksan Granite and Stone Monuments in Sabi Period of Baekje Kingdom, Korea
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21701/bolgeomin/137.1/013Keywords:
Iksan granitic batholith, Geoheritage, Sabi period of BaekjeAbstract
The Iksan granite was included in the mid-western part of the Korean peninsula during the Jurassic Daebo orogeny. This granitic batholith has many historical quarries dating back to the 6th century until today. It is called one of the top 3 quarry sites in South Korea because this area is accessible to stone with a huge reserve in the hill region. Many stone monuments are well-known in the Sabi period (538–660 CE), belonging to the late Baekje Dynasty, which ruled in the Iksan area, in the heyday and was the essence of Baekje culture. Many researchers have reported continuously that Iksan granite is medium- to coarse-grained and K-feldspar porphyritic granite with a very homogeneous texture and geochemical composition over the twenty years. Paradoxically, this ‘homogeneity’ of Iksan granite has limited previous studies in finding specific historical quarries. The whole-rock geochemical analysis results do not explain the discrimination for each quarry site. This review compares the geochemical composition of the granites from quarry sites and stone monuments. It summarizes interpretation results concerning historical quarries of the late Sabi period of Baekje from the literature. Additionally, new geochemical analysis methods are suggested for tracing historical quarries on the condition that the whole-rock geochemical compositions of stone are homogeneous in the study area. The results on the geological characteristics and tracing historical quarries in the Iksan area show the long-term value of the Iksan granite as a natural resource for more than 1,500 years.
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Funding data
National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage
Grant numbers NRICH-2405-A70F-1
