Geochang Naeo-ri Dolmens

Dolmens are a signature type of Bronze Age tomb, generally believed to have belonged to a ruling class with economic wealth or political power.

Korean dolmens generally fall into two types: the "table style," where four support stones form a chamber topped with a large, flat capstone, and the "checkerboard style," where a stone chamber is built underground with small support stones, covered first by a lid stone and then a capstone.

Three dolmens remain scattered across the hillside at Geochang Naeo-ri. The southernmost of the three is built in the table style.

It's not an elaborate site, but it offers a real, tangible sense of just how far back Geochang's history of human habitation stretches — all the way to the Bronze Age.