Gogok

Gogok
Glass and jade beads excavated from the Tomb of King Muryeong with of Baekje gold cap ornaments.
Korean name
Hangul	곱은옥 / 곡옥
Hanja	곱은玉 / 曲玉
Revised Romanization	gobeunok / gogok
McCune–Reischauer	kobŭnok / kogok

Gobeunok or Gogok are comma-shaped or curved beads and jewels that appeared from middle age of Mumun Period ( 850 to 550 BC ) through the Three Kingdoms of Korea (57 BC to 668 AD).^[1] The Gogok (곡옥; 曲玉) is posited by researchers to have been a symbol of prestige among Mumun culture community leaders as the tombs of presumably powerful figures were oftentimes accompanied by bronze daggers, stone daggers, and comma-shaped jewels.^[2] The Gogok's role as a symbol of prestige would carry onto the Three Kingdoms Period of Korea (as Gogok would remain a salient feature of Korean royal paraphernalia (Silla and Baekje). They range in size range from 1 to 10 centimetres (0.39 to 3.94 in), and are oftentimes fashioned with a hole to be attached or threaded to another object. The origin of these comma-shaped jewels are posited by some to originate from the dragon-shaped jadeite ornament of the Hongshan culture (4,500 to 3,000 BC) of the Liao River Basin.^[2] However, due to the spatial and temporal distance, most researchers have been skeptical of their genealogical relationship.^[2] The generally accepted interpretation in academia is that the form of the comma-shaped jewel originated from the canine teeth of predator animals such as the Magatama of Japan from the late Jōmon period (approximately 1,000 BC) or as a symbol of a half-moon sacred to moon worshippers, or as a symbol of fetus and or fertility.^[2]