Petroglyphs of Bangudae was first found by The Korean Buddhist Research Institute of Dongguk University in 1971 while it has become one of the remarkable cultural assets of Ulsan and more on, it has been evaluated as the important resource for domestic petroglyphs nationwide.
Since the discovery, there were several researches on the petroglyphs in 1975 and 1977 while general research report was issued in 1984 widely recognizing its importance then it was assigned as National Treasure No. 285 on June 23rd, 1995.
What is Petroglyph¡¦
'Petroglyph' or ¡®Rock Art¡¯ refers to all kinds of drawings on a rock with
various techniques. According to the result of research up until now,
it expresses the oldest art of mankind throughout all the regions and
periods of the world.
Visible Period
Petroglyphs of Bangudae have been sunken in the water due to the construction
of Sayeon dam to supply industrial water in Ulsan since December of 1965.
It is sunken for 9~10 months during a year while it is displayed for 2~3
months among 4 months from October to February, the dry season of the
year. However, it is impossible to view closer due to Daegokchoen therefore;
large-scaled model of 6m W x 3m L is located across the Petroglyphs of
Bangudae helping to understand visitors.
Importance
Petroglyphs are one of kinds of recording inscriptions existed before
the characters featuring various symbols or signs besides detailed shapes
therefore, it has been researched thoroughly. Many scholars define petroglyphs
as ¡®the symbolic languages in religious world and the communication instrument
through images of drawings between gods and humans¡¯ while others define
them as ¡®a kind of drawing language in the society without characters
but languages¡¯ or ¡®symbolic message of religious spirit or mythology¡¯
therefore in overall, scholars research petroglyphs because they consider
petroglyphs as ¡®a kind of expressional way to record religious messages
during Prehistoric age and society era without characters.¡¯
Therefore, even petroglyphs of Bangudae with realistic shapes clearly
containing the messages of religious spirit, lifestyle, and the messages
by drawers of the era and more on, those unknown drawings are still being
researched.
Also, 16 other petroglyphs have been found in South Korea featuring abstract
drawings while petroglyphs of Bangudae is considered as the important
relic which features mainly animals and figure drawings and they clearly
feature fishery and inscriptions of swimming whale expressing lifestyles
of mankind from prehistoric period.
Drawn Time
For petroglyphs, there is no way to estimate the date as buried relics
and also, it is very difficult to find out the date with the characteristics
of petroglyphs featuring no accompanied relics. Based on various scientific
data, researchers have estimated the date as from the end of the Neolithic
era to the Bronze Age.
Furthermore, there will be a general research on natural ecology and relics
and once buried relics of drawers of the era are found, estimation of
accurate date will be possible.
Reference : Bangudae (1984, Hwang Sooyoung, Moon Myoungdae) Ulsan Petroglyphs
of Bangudae (2000. Ulsan Megalopolis)
