Iron pots and a kitchen site from the seventh century have been found at a historical site that was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list last month.
 
The Buyeo National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage said Thursday that it had excavated three iron pots and a kitchen site from the Baekje Kingdom period at a royal palace site at Wanggung-ri in Iksan, North Jeolla Province.
 
It is the first time that iron pots from the Baekje period have been found. The excavation suggests that iron pots were widely used on the Korean Peninsula during the period of the Three Kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, as pots from the other two periods have previously been found.
 
The kitchen, which shows signs of fire usage, is the first ancient royal kitchen site to be found from a period other than the Joseon Dynasty.
 
Since 1989, some ten-thousand relics have been unearthed from the ancient royal palace site, which was built around the seventh century during the era of King Mu of Baekje.