한국청동기시대이해에서지석묘가차지하는비중을재차강조할필요는없을것이다. 청동기시대어떤문화요소보다도 연구의 역사가 길 뿐만 아니라,최근까지 관련 논의가 활발히 이루어지고 있다. 그러나호서지역에서만큼은그렇지못하다. 획기적인사회문화적변화상을경험했던청동기시대전-중기전환기에대한연구에서호서는가장비중있게다루어지는지역이다. 최근몇몇연구들은지석묘의축조가이 전환기와 부합할 가능성이 있으며,그 물질문화의 확산 과정과도 밀접한 관련이 있을 가능성을 지적하기도 한다. 결과적으로,호서지역 지석묘 연구의 미진함은 남한지역 청동기시대 문화상을 통합적으로이해하는데걸림돌로작용할수도있게된것이다. 본고는그러한통합적이해의첫걸음으로,호서지역지석묘의광역적분포상과축조의시간성에서보이는 특징을 파악하는 작업을 시도한다. 이러한 시도는 지석묘의 하천유역별 분포,개체수와 상석규모에대한 군집양상,형식의 지역별 편차,지석묘의 구조와 유물에 대한 공간분석,통계분석,형식학적 분석을통해 이루어지고,최종적으로는 호서지역 지석묘의 광역적 분포상의 변화와 축조의 속도(tempo)에 대한예찰로이어진다. 호서지역지석묘는청동기시대전기말-중기초에집중적으로조영되는데,그지역적중심혹은최대밀집은계속해서충남남서해안에있으나,대전및충북지역으로활발하게확산되는것으로판단된다. 결국,巨石記念碑的매장문화의급속한확산또한호서지역청동기시대전-중기전환기의특징으로고려할수있다고하겠다.

It seems not necessary to emphasize how important studying dolmens─megalithic tombs─is in understanding Korean Bronze Age culture. Studies on dolmens have a longer history than any other component of the Korean Bronze Age. The dolmens from the Hoseo region, however, have not been rigorously investigated. The Hoseo region has been a key area of focus for Korean archaeologists studying the sociocultural changes in the transition from the Early to Middle Bronze Age. Some of them have recently begun to suggest that the prevalence of these dolmens in the Korean Bronze Age landscape is parallel,temporally, to this transition, and that the Songgukri-type assemblages which characterize the material culture of the Hoseo region’s Middle Bronze Age were accompanied by dolmens in their spread to the southern parts of the Korean Peninsula. In this light, passiveness in the study of the dolmens of the Hoseo region may be regarded as hindering a holistic approach to the important sociocultural changes of the Korean Bronze Age. As a first step in such a holistic approach, I attempt to explore some aspects relevant to the temporality and spatiality of dolmen construction in the Hoseo region, analyzing hydrological data, the distributional patterns of the Hoseo region dolmens, their formal attributes and their burial goods. The analyses provide important information for the assessment of the tempo of dolmen construction and the spatial expansion of mortuary practices favoring megalithic monumentality. I conclude that the construction of dolmens was highly concentrated around a relatively short time span, from the end of the Early Bronze Age to the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age, and that it spread northeastwards within the Hoseo region.

Hoseo region, Dolmen, River basin, Regional distribution, Clustering,Tempo of dolmen construction