| Gold Crown Tomb | |
 A gold crown excavated from Geumgwanchong tomb. National Treasures of South Korea No. 87 | |
| Korean name | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 금관총 |
| Hanja | 金冠塚 |
| Revised Romanization | Geumgwanchong |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kŭmgwanch'ong |
.jpg)
The Gold Crown Tomb (Geumgwanchong), is a Silla tumulus located in modern-day Gyeongju, South Korea, the former capital of the ancient Silla Kingdom. Believed to date from the fifth or sixth century CE, the tomb was excavated in 1921. It was the first tomb that was found to contain a gold crown of the Silla royalty, and is still the largest crown excavated thus far. The tomb takes its name from the crown.[1] Over 40,000 other artifacts were recovered from the tomb, including "gold, silver, and bronze vessels, gold and silver weapons, gilt-bronze plate armor, stoneware vessels, 20,000 mainly blue Indo-Pacific beads, and horse fittings."[1][2]
The diameter of the tomb is 45 m and the height is 12 m. Such stone mounded tombs only existed in the Shinar Era. It is believed that the tomb was varnished and lacquered. The structure of the tomb and the Buddhist influence suggest that it was built after the reign of King Jijeung. This would place the date around the 6th century, which was before the Unified Silla period. The Gold Crown Tomb has one burial mound, and the structure is simple and does not contain a special artifacts room.