history

The Chimchon-type dolmen, though small in size and simple in structure, is one of the prehistoric tombs ever found in the DPRK and it comparatively boasts diversity in its structure, serving as a precious archeological material for studying the social development from the end of the primitive ages to the ancient times as a whole.

The dolmen is a kind of ancient stone tomb with a rectangular chamber buried under the ground and a capstone placed on it.

A dolmen of this type was first unearthed in Chimchon-ri, Hwangju County, North Hwanghae Province, hence the name.

It is the smallest in size and simplest in structure among many kinds of dolmens that have been discovered in the country.

As for its general structure, the burial chamber was squarely walled by four thin slabs in a pit or a stone mound, with a larger slab placed on top of the chamber. A certain amount of large and small stones were piled around the chamber to reinforce it.

Some of the tombs of this type had no door while others had one on a side of the chamber.

In general, those with small chambers do not have a door, but larger ones have a door.

Discovered in these tombs were mostly stone tools such as dagger, spear, arrowhead, axe and scimitar, and bronze artefacts like pipha-shaped dagger in rare cases.