. ▁These ▁meg al ith ic ▁bur ial s ▁date ▁to ▁the ▁early ▁part ▁of ▁the ▁M um un ▁pot tery ▁period ▁( c . ▁ 1 5 0 0 – 8 5 0 ▁BC ) ▁and ▁are ▁distributed , ▁with ▁a ▁few ▁exceptions , ▁north ▁of ▁the ▁Han ▁River . ▁F ew ▁northern - style ▁meg al ith s ▁in ▁n ortheast ▁China ▁contain ▁grave ▁goods ▁such ▁as ▁L ia oning ▁bronze ▁dag gers , ▁prompt ing ▁some ▁arch ae olog ists ▁to ▁interpret ▁the ▁bur ial s ▁as ▁the ▁gra ves ▁of ▁chief s ▁or ▁pre em inent ▁individuals . ▁However , ▁whether ▁a ▁result ▁of ▁grave - rob ber y ▁or ▁intent ional ▁mort u ary ▁behaviour , ▁most ▁northern ▁meg al ith s ▁contain ▁no ▁grave ▁goods . ▁ ▁Southern ▁style ▁ ▁Southern - style ▁meg al ith ic ▁bur ial s ▁are ▁distributed ▁in ▁the ▁southern ▁Korean ▁Pen ins ula . ▁It ▁is ▁thought ▁that ▁most ▁of ▁them ▁date ▁to ▁the ▁latter ▁part ▁of ▁the ▁Early ▁M um un ▁or ▁to ▁the ▁Middle ▁M um un ▁Period . ▁Southern - style ▁meg al ith s ▁are ▁typically ▁smaller ▁in ▁scale ▁than ▁northern ▁meg al ith s . ▁The ▁inter ment ▁area ▁of ▁southern ▁meg al ith s ▁has ▁an ▁under ground ▁bur ial ▁chamber ▁made ▁of ▁earth ▁or ▁l ined ▁with ▁thin ▁stone ▁sl abs . ▁A ▁massive ▁cap stone ▁is ▁placed ▁over ▁the ▁inter ment ▁area ▁and ▁is ▁supported ▁by ▁smaller ▁pro pping ▁stones . ▁Most ▁of