Gogok

Infobox Korean name

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caption=Glass and jade beads excavated from King Muryeong's Tomb with gold cap ornaments.
hangul=곱은옥 "or" 곡옥
hanja=곱은玉 "or" 曲玉
rr=gobeunok "or" gogok
mr=kobǔnok "or" kogok

Gobeunok or Gogok refers to comma-shaped or curved beads and jewels, found in Korea and Japan. Gogok is also sometimes romanized as "kogok" and "kokkok" or "kokok." In Japanese, they are called magatama.

Although usually made from jadeite, they have been discovered made from many different materials such as nephrite, stone, clay, bone and glass. They range in size range from 1 to 10 cm, have a small hole in the middle of the round part for threading. Used as earrings and necklaces, and as decoration on crowns, belts, and bracelets. Some are further decorated with gold or silver attachments.

The curved nature of the gogok beads and their similarities to bear claws has led to a theory of Scytho-Siberian influence and origin created by bear totem tribes. [http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/publications/pdfs/korea/divided/Materials-Music.pdf#search='comma%20shaped%20silla%20beads']

In Korea, jade gogok are found sporadically at prehistoric sites. [ [http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article-9049968 magatama - Britannica Online Encyclopedia ] ] Throughout the Korean peninsula, nephrite gogok are found in Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in stone burial chambers (stone cists and dolmens). This probably indicates that gogok were symbols of prestige and power buried with the elites of society.

The most famous examples of gogok in Korean art are from the Three Kingdoms period, in Silla royal crowns, earrings, necklaces, and belts. These treasures were found in the burial mounds of both Silla and Baekje kings. [ [http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/opac/catalogue_detail.php?&object_number=C.102-1984&_limit_=10&_function_=xslt The Fitzwilliam Museum : Catalogue Introduction ] ] The ornamental antlers and tree-like structures of the Silla crown and similarities of the crown with works from the Eurasian steppes and Afghanistan suggests vast networks of trade and also reinforces a Scytho-Siberian origin for gogok. [ [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/05/eak/ht05eak.htm Korea, 1–500 A.D. | Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art ] ] They declined in use from about the middle of the 6th century. [ [http://kr.dic.yahoo.com/search/enc/result.html?pk=10815300&p=%B0%EE%BF%C1%20&field=id&type=enc 야후! 백과사전 - 곡옥 ] ]

The origin of gogok is contested by archaeologists because these jewels are common in Kofun tombs as well as in contemporaneous Korean tombs. [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN082482332X&id=zzZBdGQN_TIC&pg=PA232&lpg=PA232&dq=comma+shaped+bead&vq=korea&sig=xdpPyhic7tEPofwDu0x2mYHMA0Y] [http://www.t-net.ne.jp/~keally/kofun.html Kofun Culture ] ] One archaeologist, James Keally, who believes gogok originated in Japan cites the fact that gogok have been reported in Jōmon sites in Tohoku as early as about 1000 BCE. Because gogok have been found in Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in Korea, this claim is controversial.

Notes

References

* [http://enc.daum.net/dic100//viewContents.do?articleID=b02g0318a Korea Britannica article] ko icon
* [http://100.naver.com/100.nhn?docid=15632 Doosan World Encyclopedia article] ko icon
* [http://kr.dic.yahoo.com/search/enc/result.html?pk=10815300&p=%B0%EE%BF%C1%20&field=id&type=enc Yahoo Korea Encyclopedia] ko icon

ee also

* Magatama
* Crown of Silla
* List of Korea-related topics