| Armours
and helmets are prestige goods which symbolize the wearer¡¯s
power as well as protects him from wounds in battle. Helmets
are classified into several kinds: iron plate helmets, baseball
hat-shaped helmets, triangle helmets and crown-shaped helmets.
Also, iron armour is classified into plate armour and scale
armour. Horse armour and horse helmet are also relics of Daegaya.
Iron plate helmet, scale armour, triangle helmet and shoulder
cover were found in the Jisan-dong Tumulus No. 32. A baseball
hat-shaped helmet was excavated in the Jisan-dong Tumlus
No. I-3. This helmet was often found in the mounded tombs
in Japan. This fact means that there were active exchange
relations between Daegaya and Japan.
Armours and helmets were more excavated in the Gaya area
than in the Silla area. This is because in the case of Silla
the symbolic meaning of the armour and helmet which indicates
the wearer¡¯s power declined with the emergence of gold and
silver products. While in the case of Daegaya, such a meaning
continued. This may suggest that Daegaya was inferior to
Silla in terms of social development.
On the other hand, harnesses can be classified into bits,
stirrups, saddles, horse strap pendants and horse bells.
These were used for controlling a horse, stabilizing a jockey
and decorating a horse. Of these, oval plate-shaped bits
and blade-shaped horse strap pendants are the most typical
harnesses of Daegaya.
The same kind of bits are also found in the main stone
chamber of the Jisan-dong Tumulus No. 44, the stone compartment
protecting coffin of the Jisan-dong Tumulus No. 22 and the
Okjeon Tumlus No. M3 in Hapcheon.
Of horse strap pendants, the blade-shaped horse strap pendants
discovered in the Jisan-dong Tumulus No. 44 and the Okjeon
Tumlus No. M3 in Hapchion are representative relics. The
iron stirrups of Daegaya show a remarkable difference to
those of Silla in their form. This kind of harness of Daegaya
was diffused in the Japanese Islands and formed the mainstream
of harness in the late tumulus period.
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