A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a
mound of
earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...
and
stones raised over a
grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''
kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A
cairn, which is a mound of stones built for various purposes, may also originally have been a tumulus.
Tumuli are often categorised according to their external apparent shape. In this respect, a
long barrow is a long tumulus, usually constructed on top of several
burials, such as
passage graves. A
round barrow is a round tumulus, also commonly constructed on top of burials. The internal structure and architecture of both long and round barrows has a broad range; the categorization only refers to the external apparent shape.
The method of may involve a
dolmen, a
cist, a
mortuary enclosure A mortuary enclosure is a term given in archaeology and anthropology to an area, surrounded by a wood, stone or earthwork barrier, in which dead bodies are placed for excarnation and to await secondary and/or collective burial. There are some parall ...
, a
mortuary house
In archaeology and anthropology a mortuary house is any purpose-built structure, often resembling a normal dwelling in many ways, in which a dead body is buried.
Proper treatment and placing of the dead has always been of great concern to people a ...
, or a
chamber tomb. Examples of barrows include
Duggleby Howe and
Maeshowe.
Etymology
The word ''tumulus'' is
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
for 'mound' or 'small hill', which is derived from the
Proto-Indo-European root *''teuh
2-'' with extended zero grade *''tum-'', 'to bulge, swell' also found in ''tomb'', ''tumor'', ''tumescent'', ''thumb'', ''thigh'', and ''thousand''.
Burial accounts
The funeral of
Patroclus is described in book 23 of
Homer's ''
Iliad''. Patroclus is burned on a
pyre, and his bones are collected into a golden
urn in two layers of fat. The barrow is built on the location of the pyre.
Achilles then sponsors funeral games, consisting of a
chariot race, boxing, wrestling, running, a duel between two champions to the first blood, discus throwing, archery and spear throwing.
Beowulf's body in the Anglo-Saxon poem ''
Beowulf'' is taken to Hronesness, where it is burned on a funeral pyre. During cremation, the
Geats lament the death of their lord, a widow's lament being mentioned in particular, singing
dirges as they
circumambulate the barrow.
Afterwards, a mound is built on top of a hill, overlooking the sea, and filled with treasure. A band of twelve of the best warriors ride around the barrow, singing dirges in praise of their lord.
Parallels have also been drawn to the account of
Attila's burial in
Jordanes
Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history ('' Romana'') an ...
' ''
Getica
''De origine actibusque Getarum'' (''The Origin and Deeds of the Getae oths'), commonly abbreviated ''Getica'', written in Late Latin by Jordanes in or shortly after 551 AD, claims to be a summary of a voluminous account by Cassiodorus of th ...
''. Jordanes tells that as Attila's body was lying in state, the best horsemen of the
Huns circled it, as in circus games.
An Old Irish ''Life of
Columcille'' reports that every funeral procession "halted at a mound called Eala, whereupon the corpse was laid, and the mourners marched thrice solemnly round the spot."
Types
Archaeologists often classify tumuli according to their location, form, and date of construction (see also
mound). Some British types are listed below:
*
Bank barrow
*
Bell barrow
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...
*
Bowl barrow
* D-shaped barrow – round barrow with a purposely flat edge at one side often defined by stone slabs.
*
Disc barrow
*
Fancy barrow
A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...
– generic term for any
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
barrows more elaborate than a simple hemispherical shape.
*
Long barrow
*
Oval barrow – a
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...
long barrow consisting of an elliptical, rather than rectangular or trapezoidal mound.
*
Platform barrow – The least common of the recognised types of round barrow, consisting of a flat, wide circular mound that may be surrounded by a ditch. They occur widely across southern England with a marked concentration in East and West
Sussex.
*
Pond barrow – a barrow consisting of a shallow circular depression, surrounded by a bank running around the rim of the depression, from the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
.
*
Ring barrow
A ring cairn (also correctly termed a ring bank enclosure, but sometimes wrongly described as a ring barrow) is a circular or slightly oval, ring-shaped, low (maximum 0.5 metres high) embankment, several metres wide and from 8 to 20 metres in ...
– a bank that encircles a number of burials.
*
Round barrow – a circular feature created by the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
peoples of Britain and also the later
Romans,
Vikings, and
Saxons. Divided into subclasses such as saucer and bell barrow – the
Six Hills are a rare Roman example.
*
Saucer barrow – a circular Bronze Age barrow that features a low, wide mound surrounded by a ditch that may have an external bank.
*
Square barrow
In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length ad ...
– burial site, usually of
Iron Age date, consisting of a small, square, ditched enclosure surrounding a central burial, which may also have been covered by a mound.
Modern practices
There is a contemporary revival in barrow building in the UK. In 2015 the first long barrow in thousands of years, the
Long Barrow at All Cannings
The Long Barrow at All Cannings is a modern barrow near All Cannings, Wiltshire, inspired by the neolithic barrows built 5,500 years ago. It was the first barrow built in Britain in thousands of years.
The structure was commissioned by farme ...
, inspired by those built in the Neolithic era, was built on land just outside the village of
All Cannings
All Cannings (pronounced "Allcannings") is a village and civil parish in the Vale of Pewsey in the English county of Wiltshire, about east of Devizes. The parish includes the nearby smaller settlement of Allington.
The southern part of the p ...
. The barrow was designed to have a large number of private niches within the stone and earth structure to receive cremation urns.
This was followed by new barrows at:
* The Willow Row Barrow at
St Neots.
* The
Soulton Long Barrow
The Soulton Long Barrow and Ritual Landscape is a modern memorial in the form of a long barrow in the Soulton landscape near Wem in Shropshire, England.
The barrow contains niches for the placement of cremation urns. It is also intended ...
at
Soulton in
Shropshire.
* Higher Ground Meadow in
Dorset
* Warwickshire.
Plans have also been announced for a barrow in Milton Keynes and in Powis.
Sites
Africa
Horn of Africa
Salweyn in Somaliland contains a very large field of
cairns, which stretches for a distance of around 8 km.
An excavation of one of these tumuli by Georges Révoil in 1881 uncovered a tomb, beside which were artefacts pointing to an ancient, advanced civilization. The interred objects included pottery shards from
Samos, some well-crafted
enamels, and a mask of
Ancient Greek design.
West Africa
Preceded by assumed earlier sites in the Eastern
Sahara, tumuli with
megalithic monuments developed as early as 4700 BC in the Saharan region of
Niger.
These megalithic
monuments in the Saharan region of Niger and the Eastern Sahara may have served as antecedents for the
mastabas and
pyramids of
ancient Egypt.
In
Niger, there are two
monumental tumuli – a
cairn burial (5695 BP – 5101 BP) at
Adrar Bous, and a tumulus covered with gravel (6229 BP – 4933 BP) at Iwelen, in the
Aïr Mountains.
Tenerians did not construct the two monumental tumuli at Adrar Bous and Iwelen.
Rather, Tenerians constructed cattle tumuli at a time before the two monumental tumuli were constructed.
The
Tichitt Tradition of eastern Mauritania dates from 2200 BC
to 200 BC.
Within the settled areas of Tichitt Culture (e.g.,
Dhar Tichitt
Dhar Tichitt is a Neolithic archaeological site located in the southwestern region of the Sahara Desert, in Mauritania. It is one of several settlement locations along the sandstone cliffs in the area. Dhar Tichitt, Dhar Walata, Dhar Néma, and ...
,
Dhar Tagant
The Tichitt Culture, or Tichitt Tradition, was created by Mande peoples. In 4000 BCE, the start of sophisticated social structure (e.g., trade of cattle as valued assets) developed among herders amid the Pastoral Period of the Sahara. Saharan pa ...
,
Dhar Walata), with
stone walls
Stone walls are a kind of masonry construction that has been used for thousands of years. The first stone walls were constructed by farmers and primitive people by piling loose field stones into a dry stone wall. Later, mortar and plaster ...
, which vary in scale from (e.g., 2
hectares, 80 hectares), there were walled
agricultural land utilized for
livestock or
gardening as well as land with
granaries and tumuli.
Based on the hundreds of tumuli present in Dhar Tichitt, compared to a dozen tumuli present in Dhar Walata, it is likely that Dhar Tichitt was the primary center of
religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...
for the people of Tichitt culture.
At
Wanar, Senegal,
megalithic monolith-circles and tumuli (1300/1100 BC – 1400/1500 AD) were constructed by West Africans who had a complex hierarchical society.
In the mid-region of the
Senegal River Valley, the
Serer people may have created tumuli (before 13th century AD),
shell middens (7th century AD – 13th century AD) in the central-west region, and shell middens (200 BC – Present) in the southern region.
The
funerary
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect ...
tumuli-building tradition of
West Africa was widespread and a regular practice amid 1st millennium AD.
More than ten thousand large funerary tumuli exist in Senegal.
At the
Inner Niger Delta, in the
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...
Lakes Region, there are two monumental tumuli constructed in the time period of the
Trans-Saharan trade for the
Sahelian kingdoms
The Sahelian kingdoms were a series of centralized kingdoms or empires that were centered on the Sahel, the area of grasslands south of the Sahara, from the 8th century to the 19th. The wealth of the states came from controlling the trade routes a ...
of
West Africa.
The El Oualadji monumental tumulus, which dates between 1030 AD and 1220 AD and has two human remains buried with
horse remains and various items (e.g.,
horse harnesses, horse
trappings with plaques and bells, bracelets, rings, beads, iron items), may have been, as highlighted by
al-Bakri
Abū ʿUbayd ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad ibn Ayyūb ibn ʿAmr al-Bakrī ( ar, أبو عبيد عبد الله بن عبد العزيز بن محمد بن أيوب بن عمرو البكري), or simply al-Bakrī (c. 1040–1 ...
, the royal burial site of a king from the
Ghana Empire
The Ghana Empire, also known as Wagadou ( ar, غانا) or Awkar, was a West African empire based in the modern-day southeast of Mauritania and western Mali that existed from c. 300 until 1100. The Empire was founded by the Soninke people, a ...
.
The Koï Gourrey monumental tumulus, which may date prior to 1326 AD and has over twenty human remains that were buried with various items (e.g., iron accessories, an abundant amount of copper bracelets, anklets and beads, an abundant amount of broken, but whole pottery, another set of distinct, intact, glazed pottery, a wooden-beaded bone necklace, a bird figurine, a lizard figurine, a crocodile figurine), and is situated within the
Mali Empire.
Asia
Central Asia
The word
kurgan is of
Turkic origin, derives from
Proto-Turkic *Kur- ("to erect (a building), to establish"). In Ukraine and Russia, there are royal kurgans of
Varangian chieftains, such as the
Black Grave in Ukrainian
Chernihiv (excavated in the 19th century),
Oleg's Grave in Russian
Staraya Ladoga, and vast, intricate
Rurik's Hill near Russian
Novgorod. Other important kurgans are found in Ukraine and South Russia and are associated with much more ancient
steppe peoples, notably the
Scythians (e.g., Chortomlyk,
Pazyryk) and early
Indo-Europeans (e.g.,
Ipatovo kurgan
Ipatovo kurgan refers to kurgan 2 of the Ipatovo Barrow Cemetery 3, a cemetery of kurgan burial mounds, located near the town of Ipatovo in Stavropol Krai, Russia, some northeast of Stavropol.
With a height of , it was one of the largest kurgan ...
) The steppe cultures found in Ukraine and South Russia naturally continue into
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the fo ...
, in particular
Kazakhstan.
It is constructed over a grave, often characterized by containing a single human body along with grave vessels, weapons and horses. Originally in use on the
Pontic–Caspian steppe, kurgans spread into much of
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the fo ...
and
Eastern,
Southeast,
Western and
Northern Europe during the 3rd millennium BC.
The earliest kurgans date to the 4th millennium BC in the Caucasus, and researchers associate these with the
Indo-Europeans. Kurgans were built in the
Eneolithic,
Bronze,
Iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...
,
Antiquity
Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to:
Historical objects or periods Artifacts
*Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures
Eras
Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...
and
Middle Ages, with ancient traditions still active in Southern
Siberia and Central Asia.
Near East
=Turkey
=
On the
Anatolian peninsula, there are several sites where one can find the biggest specimens of these artificial mounds throughout the world. Three of these sites are especially important. Bin Tepeler (and other
Lydian mounds of the Aegean inland),
Phrygian mounds in
Gordium (Central Anatolia), and the famous
Commagene tumulus on the Mount
Nemrut (Southeastern Anatolia).
This is the most important of the enumerated sites with the number of specimens it has and with the dimensions of certain among them. It is in the
Aegean inland of Turkey. The site is called "Bin Tepeler" (a thousand mounds in Turkish) and it is in the northwest of
Salihli
Salihli is a large town and district of Manisa Province in the Aegean region of Turkey.
Geography
The city of Salihli, the seat of the district, is located on İzmir-Ankara (E 96) highway and the parallel railway connections. The urban zone ...
district of
Manisa province. The site is very close to the southern shoreline of
Lake Marmara (Lake Gyges or Gygaea). Bin Tepeler is a Lydian
necropolis that dates back to 7th and 6th centuries BC. These mounds are called "the pyramids of Anatolia", as a giant specimen among them is 355 metres in diameter, 1115 metres in perimeter and 69 metres high. According to
Herodotus, this giant tumulus belongs to the famous Lydian King
Alyattes who ruled between 619 and 560 BC. There is also another mound belonging to King
Gyges Gyges can refer to:
* One of the Hecatoncheires from Greek mythology
* King Gyges of Lydia
* Ogyges
* Ring of Gyges
The Ring of Gyges ( grc, Γύγου Δακτύλιος, ''Gúgou Daktúlios'', ) is a hypothetical magic ring mentioned by the ...
. The Gyges mound was excavated but the burial chamber hasn't been found yet. In this site, there are 75 tumuli dating back to Lydian period that belong to the nobility. A large number of smaller artificial mounds can also be observed in the site. There are other Lydian tumuli sites around
Eşme
Eşme is a town and district of Uşak Province in the inner Aegean Region of Turkey. Apart from the central town of Eşme, the district counts three townships with own municipality, namely Yeleğen, Ahmetler and Güllü.
The principal economic ...
district of
Uşak province. Certain mounds in these sites had been plundered by raiders in the late 1960s, and the Lydian treasures found in their burial chambers were smuggled to the United States, which later returned them to Turkish authorities after negotiations. These artifacts are now exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Uşak.
Gordium (Gordion) was the capital of the ancient kingdom of
Phrygia. Its ruins are in the immediate vicinity of
Polatlı, near the Turkish capital
Ankara. At this site, approximately 80–90 tumuli date back to the Phrygian,
Persian and
Hellenistic periods. Around 35 tumuli have been excavated so far, ranging in date from the 8th century BC to the 3rd or 2nd century BC. The biggest tumulus at the site is believed to have covered the burial of the famous Phrygian King
Midas or that of his father. This mound, called Tumulus MM (for "Midas Mound"), was excavated in 1957 by a team from the University of Pennsylvania Museum, led by
Rodney Young and his
graduate students. Among the many fine
bronze artifacts recovered from the wooden burial chamber were 170 bronze vessels, including numerous "omphalos bowls", and more than 180 bronze "Phrygian
fibula
The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity ...
e" (ancient safety pins). The
wooden furniture found in the tomb is especially noteworthy, as wood seldom survives from archaeological contexts: the collection included nine tables, one of them elaborately carved and inlaid, and two ceremonial serving stands inlaid with religious symbols and geometric patterns. Important bronze and wooden artifacts were also found in other tumulus burials at the site.
The Mount
Nemrut is 86 km in the east of
Adıyaman province of
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
. It is very close to
Kahta district of the same province. The mountain has, at its peak, 3050 metres of height above the sea level. A tumulus that dates to the 1st century BC is at the peak of the mountain. This artificial mound has 150 metres of diameter and a height of 50 metres, which was originally 55 metres. It belongs to the
Commagene King
Antiochus I Theos of Commagene
Antiochus I Theos Dikaios Epiphanes Philorhomaios Philhellen ( grc, Ἀντίοχος ὁ Θεὸς Δίκαιος Ἐπιφανὴς Φιλορωμαῖος Φιλέλλην, meaning "Antiochos, the just, eminent god, friend of Romans and friend ...
who ruled between 69 and 40 BC. This tumulus is made of broken stone pieces, which renders excavation attempts almost impossible. The tumulus is surrounded by ceremonial terraces in the east, west, and north. The east and west terraces have tremendous statues (reaching 8 to 10 meters of height) and bas reliefs of gods and goddesses from the Commagene
pantheon
Pantheon may refer to:
* Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building
Arts and entertainment Comics
*Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization
* ''Pantheon'' (Lone St ...
where divine figures used to embody the
Persian and
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
perceptions together.
=Israel
=
A tumulus forms the center of the ancient
megalithic structure of
Rujm el-Hiri
Rujm el-Hiri ( ar, رجم الهري, ''Rujm al-Hīrī''; he, גִּלְגַּל רְפָאִים ''Gilgal Refā'īm'' or ''Rogem Hiri'') is an ancient megalithic monument consisting of concentric circles of stone with a tumulus at center. It is ...
in the
Golan Heights.
Rujm
Rujm ( ar, رجم, ''rûjm''; p. ''rûjûm'') is an Arabic word that appears as an element in numerous place names. It can be translated as "mound, cairn, hill, spur", and also as "stone heap" or "tumulus".Mann, 2005, p. 139.Negev and Gibson, 2005p ...
in Arabic can mean tumulus,
cairn or stone heap. Near the western city limits of modern
Jerusalem, 19 tumuli have been documented (Amiran, 1958). Though first noticed in the 1870s by early surveyors, the first one to be formally documented was Tumulus #2 in 1923 by
William Foxwell Albright, and the most recent one (Tumulus #4) was excavated by
Gabriel Barkay
Gabriel Barkay (Hebrew: גבריאל ברקאי; sometimes transcribed from the Hebrew Gavriel Barkai) is an Israeli archaeologist.
Early life and studies
Born in 1944 in the Budapest Ghetto, Hungary, he immigrated to Israel in 1950.
Barkay stud ...
in 1983. The association of these tumuli with the Judean kings who ruled
Jerusalem does not substantiate Biblical history since it is mere speculation. No inscriptions naming any specific Judean king have been excavated from a tumulus.
* More than half of these ancient Israeli structures have now been threatened or obliterated by modern construction projects, including Tumulus #4, which was excavated hastily in a salvage operation. The most noteworthy finds from this dig were two
LMLK seal impressions and two other handles with associated Concentric Circle incisions, all of which suggests this tumulus belonged to either King
Hezekiah or his son
Manasseh.
* When comparing the number of these tumuli to the total number of Israelite kings (northern and southern), note that
Saul never ruled in
Jerusalem, and
Athaliah
Athaliah ( el, Γοθολία ''Gotholía''; la, Athalia) was the daughter of either king Omri, or of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel of Israel, the queen consort of Judah as the wife of King Jehoram, a descendant of King David, and later quee ...
was never crowned. She took the throne by force (
2Kings 11:1–3), and would certainly not have been honored with a tumulus ceremony following her brutal assassination.
* The northern kings did not reign over the southern kingdom, and they would certainly not have been honored with a tumulus ceremony in
Jerusalem; if any ceremonies were held for them, they would have transpired in the north (near
Bethel,
Tirzah, or
Samaria).
South Asia
=India
=
The
Ahom kingdom in medieval
Assam built octagonal tumuli called
Maidam
A maidam is a tumulus of the royalty and aristocracy of the medieval Ahom Kingdom (1228–1826) in Assam. The royal are found exclusively at Charaideo; whereas other are found scattered in the region between Jorhat and Dibrugarh towns. Structur ...
s for their kings and high officials. The kings were buried in a hillock at
Charaideo
Charaideo or Che-Rai-Doi (Literally: ''the shining city on the hills'' in Ahom language) is a town in Charaideo district, Assam, India and was also the first capital of the Ahom kingdom established by the first Ahom king Chao Lung Siu-Ka-Pha ...
in Sibsagar district of Assam, whereas other Maidams are found scattered more widely.
=Pakistan
=
The ''
damb
Damb Sadat (also ''Damb Sadaat'', ''Damb Saadat'') is an archaeological mound and ancient settlement in the Baluchistan region of Pakistan. It is related to the early phases of the Indus Valley civilisation, and dates to 3500 BCE. '' was a type of mound, or small stone structure, found in
Balochistan, including the coastal areas of
Makran.
East Asia
=China
=
The
Chinese pyramids house the remains of some of China's former
emperors
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...
.
Before the expansion of
Shang
The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...
and
Zhou culture through the region, many hundreds of tumuli were also constructed by the "
Baiyue" peoples of the Yangtze valley and southeastern China.
=Japan
=
In
Japan, powerful leaders built tumuli known as ''
kofun''. The
Kofun period of Japanese history takes its name from these burial mounds. The largest is Daisen-ryo Kofun, or more commonly Nintoku-ryo Kofun, with a length of 840 metres. In addition to other shapes, kofun include a keyhole shape, typically seen in Daisen Kofun. Foreign museums possess some grave goods.
=Korea
=
see also ''
Cheonmachong'', the Heavenly Horse Tomb
The first burial mounds in Korea were
dolmens, which contained material from cultures of the 1st millennium AD, such as bronze-ware, pottery, and other symbols of society elite. The most famous tumuli in Korea, dating around 300 AD, are those left behind by the Korean
Baekje,
Goguryeo (
Kogyuro/
Koguryo),
Silla, and
Gaya states and are clustered around ancient capital cities in modern-day
Pyongyang
Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populat ...
,
Ji'an, Jilin
Ji'an (; formerly ) is a county-level city in the southwestern part of Jilin province, People's Republic of China. It is administered by the prefecture-level city of Tonghua and is the southernmost county-level division in the province. Ji'an ha ...
,
Seoul, and
Gyeongju. The Goguryeo tombs, shaped like pyramids, are famous for the well-preserved wall murals like the ones at
Anak Tomb No.3, which depict the culture and artistry of the people. The base of the tomb of King
Gwanggaeto is 85 meters on each side, half of the size of the Great Pyramids. Goguryeo Silla tombs are most noted for the fabulous offerings that have been excavated such as delicate golden crowns and glassware and beads that probably made their way to Korea via the
Silk Road. Many indigenous Korean artifacts and culture were transmitted to the tomb builders of early Japan, such as horsetrappings, bronze mirrors, paintings and iron-ware.
Europe
Southeast Europe
=Albania
=
Tumuli are one of the most prominent types of prehistoric monuments spread throughout northern and southern
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...
. Some well-known local tumuli are:
*
Kamenica Tumulus
*
Lofkënd Tumulus
*
Pazhok Tumulus
=Bosnia and Herzegovina
=
More than 50 burial mounds were found in Kupres. Man from Kupres – the skeleton found in one of the tumuli is believed to be more than 3000 years old and it is kept in Gorica museum in Livno. Glasinac has many tumuli. During the Bronze and Iron Age it was a place of strong
Glasinac culture, who buried their dead in tumulus.
=Bulgaria
=
On the territory of
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
there are over 60,000 ancient
Thracian mounds, of which only about 1,000 have been studied. There are also
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
and
Thraco-Roman burial tombs. Those tumulus over ancient tombs, temples and sanctuaries are found throughout the whole territory of Bulgaria. Some of the world's most significant and famous being the
Kazanlak and
Sveshtari tombs,
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...
World Heritage sites. Located near the ancient Thracian capital cities of
Seuthopolis (of the
Odrysian kingdom) and Daosdava or Helis (of the
Getae), perhaps they represented royal burials. Other notable tumulus are Thracian tomb of Aleksandrovo,
Thracian tomb Golyama Arsenalka, Thracian tomb Shushmanets,
Thracian tomb Griffins,
Thracian tomb Helvetia,
Thracian tomb Ostrusha, Tomb of Seuthes III and the other tombs around
Starosel
Starosel ( bg, Старосел) is a village in central Bulgaria, Hisarya Municipality, Plovdiv Province. It lies at the foot of the Sredna Gora mountain range along the shores of Pyasachnik River.
Starosel is known for the abundance of ...
, others contained offerings such as the
Panagyurishte and
Rogozen treasures. Some of the sites are located in the
Valley of the Thracian Rulers. The mound of the
Tomb of Seuthes III “Golyama Kosmatka” is among the largest mounds in Thrace, with a maximum height of 23 m. and a diameter of 130 m.
=Croatia
=
There are thousands of tumuli throughout all Croatia, built of stone (
Croatian: ''gomila'', ''gromila'') in the karst areas (by the
Adriatic Sea) or made of earth (Croatian: ''humak'') in the inland plains and hills. Most of these prehistoric structures were built in the 2nd and 1st millennium BC, from the middle
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
to the end of the
Iron Age, by the
Illyrians or their direct ancestors in the same place; the
Liburnian
The Liburnians or Liburni ( grc, Λιβυρνοὶ) were an ancient tribe inhabiting the district called Liburnia, a coastal region of the northeastern Adriatic between the rivers ''Arsia'' ( Raša) and ''Titius'' ( Krka) in what is now Croati ...
inhumation of dead under tumuli was certainly inherited from the earlier times, as early as the
Copper Age. Smaller tumuli were used as the burial mounds, while bigger (some up to 7 metres high with 60 metres long base) were the
cenotaphs (empty tombs) and ritual places.
=Greece
=
Some of the world's most prominent Tumuli, the Macedonian tombs and a cist-grave at
Vergina include the tomb of
Philip II (359–336 BC), father of
Alexander the Great (336–323 BC), as well as the tomb of
Alexander IV (323–309 BC), son of Alexander the Great. A very large tumulus has been discovered in
Amphipolis. Known as the
Kasta Tomb, the tomb's occupant is presently unknown. Also numerous Mycenaean Greek Tombs are in all essence Tumuli, notably Agamemnon's site in Mycenae, and other sites in Tiryns, near Olympia and Pylos, and mostly in the Peloponnese peninsula near Mycenaean sites and Bronze Age settlements. Moreover, in
Central Greece there are numerous Tumuli, some excavated, others not. A notable one is in Marathon, serving as a burial for the ones who fell during battle.
As of October 2014 there are ongoing excavations at the
Kasta Tomb in
Amphipolis,
Macedonia,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...
with the tumulus having a perimeter of 497 meters. The tomb within is assessed to be an
ancient Macedonian burial monument of the last quarter of the 4th century BC.
*
Macedonian Tombs, Korinos
*
Macedonian Tombs, Katerini
=Hungary
=
There are over 40,000 tumuli in the
Great Hungarian Plain, the highest is
Gödény-halom near the settlement of
Békésszentandrás, in
Békés county.
Sírhalom origins and forms are diverse:
tells, graves, border barrows, watcher barrows.
=Serbia
=
*
Mrčajevci, several prehistoric tumuli
*
Bukovac, Illyrian tumuli and
necropolis
* Five prehistoric tumuli in the Morava valley.
*
Gromile, Serbian tumuli in
Ravna Gora.
*
Kinđa
Western and Central Europe
=Austria
=
*
Burgstallkogel (Sulm valley)
The Burgstallkogel (458 meters or 1563 feet; also known as Grillkogel) is a hill situated near the confluence of the Sulm and the Saggau river valleys in Southern Styria in Austria, about 30 km south of Graz between Gleinstätten and Klein ...
*
Großmugl (
Lower Austria)
* Pillichsdorf (Lower Austria)
*
Niederhollabrunn (Lower Austria)
* Gaisruck (in Niederösterreich)
* Langenlebarn (in Niederösterreich)
* Deutsch-Altenburg (in Niederösterreich)
* Bernhardsthal (Lower Austria)
* Siegendorf (
Burgenland)
* Schandorf (Burgenland)
* Kleinklein (
Styria)
*
Niederfellabrunn (Lower Austria))
*
Oberhofen am Irrsee
Oberhofen am Irrsee is a municipality in the district of Vöcklabruck in the Austrian state of Upper Austria
Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper ...
(
Upper Austria)
*
Obermallebarn (Lower Austria)
*
Unterzögersdorf (Lower Austria)
=Belgium
=
* Two Tumuli of
Ambresin (
Liège Province)
* Tumulus of Avernas in
Hannut (Liège): height: 8 m; circumference: 100 m
* Tumulus of the "champ de la Tombe" in
Braives
Braives (; wa, Braive) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium.
On January 1, 2006, Braives had a total population of 5,579. The total area is 44.00 km² which gives a population density of 127 inhabitants ...
(Liège), 1st century AD Roman tomb.
* Tumulus of
Court-Saint-Étienne (
Walloon Brabant), around 3,000 BC.
* Tumulus of Glimes in
Incourt (Walloon Brabant),
Gallo-Roman period: height: 11 m; diameter: 50 m
* Tumulus of Hottomont in
Ramillies (
Walloon Brabant), tomb of : height: 11.5 m ; diameter: 50 m
* Tumulus of
Oleye (
Liek) (Liège)
* Tumulus of
Pepin of Landen in
Landen (
Flemish Brabant)
* Tumuli of the
Sonian Forest (Flemish Brabant), 1st millennium BC.
* Three Tumuli of Grimde in
Tienen (Flemish Brabant), 1st century BC Gallo-Roman tombs.
* Tumulus of Trou de Billemont in
Antoing
Antoing (; pcd, Antweon) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
The municipality consists of the following districts: Antoing, Bruyelle, Calonne, Fontenoy, Maubray, and Péronnes-lez-Antoing.
...
(
Hainaut Province), 6th and 7th-century
Merovingian tombs.
* Tumulus of
Walhain
Walhain (; wa, Walin) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. It consists of the former municipalities of Nil-Saint-Vincent-Saint-Martin, Tourinnes-Saint-Lambert and Walhain-Saint-Paul.
The Belgian N ...
(
Walloon Brabant)
* Two Tumuli of
Waremme (Liège)
* Tumuli of Wéris (
Belgian Luxembourg
Luxembourg (french: Luxembourg ; nl, Luxemburg ; german: Luxemburg ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; wa, Lussimbork), also called Belgian Luxembourg, is the southernmost province of Wallonia and of Belgium. It borders on the country of Luxembourg to the e ...
), 4th and 3rd millennium BC.
=United Kingdom
=
In the United Kingdom, barrows of a wide range of types were in widespread use for burying the dead from the late
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...
until the end of the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
, 2900–800 BC. Square barrows were occasionally used in the Iron Age (800 BC-43 AD) in the east of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
. The traditional round barrow experienced a brief resurgence following the
Anglo-Saxon conquests, with the introduction of northern
Germanic burial practices from continental Europe. These later barrows were often built near older Bronze Age barrows. They included a few instances of
ship burial. Barrow burial fell out of use during the 7th century as a result of the spread of
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...
.
Early scholarly investigation of tumuli and theorising as to their origins was undertaken from the 17th century by
antiquaries, notably
John Aubrey, and
William Stukeley. During the 19th century in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
the excavation of tumuli was a popular
pastime amongst the educated and wealthy upper classes, who became known as "barrow-diggers". This leisure activity played a key role in laying the foundations for the scientific study of the past in Britain but also resulted in untold damage to the sites.
Notable British barrows include:
*
West Kennet Long Barrow
The West Kennet Long Barrow, also known as South Long Barrow, is a chambered long barrow near the village of Avebury in the south-western English county of Wiltshire. Probably constructed in the thirty-seventh century BC, during Britain's Earl ...
– Neolithic long barrow in
Wiltshire
*
Wayland's Smithy – Neolithic long barrow and chamber tomb in
Oxfordshire (historically
Berkshire)
*
Belas Knap
Belas Knap is a neolithic, chambered long barrow situated on Cleeve Hill, near Cheltenham and Winchcombe, in Gloucestershire, England. It is a scheduled ancient monument in the care of English Heritage but managed by Gloucestershire County Cou ...
– Neolithic long barrow in
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of ...
*
Maeshowe – Neolithic chambered cairn and passage grave on Mainland,
Orkney
*
Duggleby Howe – Neolithic round barrow in the
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire t ...
*
Sutton Hoo – 7th-century
East Anglian
East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in wh ...
ship burial with exceptionally rich grave goods in
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...
*
Devil's Humps – Bronze Age barrow group on
Bow Hill in
West Sussex
*
Devil's Jumps – Bronze Age barrow group on the
South Downs of West Sussex
*
Seamer Beacon – Bronze Age barrow near
Scarborough, North Yorkshire
=Czech Republic
=
During the early
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
,
Slavic tribesmen inhabiting what is now the Czech Republic used to bury their dead under barrows. This practice has been widespread in southern and eastern
Bohemia and some neighbouring regions, like
Upper Austria and
Lusatia, which at that time have been also populated with Slavic people. There are no known Slavic barrows in the central part of the country (around
Prague), nor are they found in
Moravia. This has led some of the archaeologists to speculations about at least three distinct waves of Slavic settlers, who colonized Czech lands separately from each other, each wave bringing its customs with it (including burial rituals).
At places where barrows have been constructed, they are usually found in groups (10 to 100 together), often forming several clearly distinct lines going from the west to the east. Only a few of them have been studied scientifically so far; in them, both burials by fire (with burnt ashes) and unburned skeletons have been found, even on the same site. It seems that builders of the barrows have at some time switched from burials by fire to burying of unburned corpses; the reason for such change is unknown. The barrows date too far back in history (700 AD to 800 AD) to contain any
Christian influences.
As Czech barrows usually served for burials of poor villagers, only a few objects are found in them except for cheap pottery. Only one Slavic barrow is known to have contained gold.
Most of the Czech burial barrows have been damaged or destroyed by intense
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...
in the densely populated region. Those that remain are usually in forests, especially at hilltops in remote places. Therefore, there is no general knowledge about burial barrows among Czech population.
The best Slavic barrow sites can be found near to
Vitín, a small village close to
České Budějovice. There are two groups of barrows close to Vitín, each containing about 80 barrows ordered in lines. Some of the barrows are as much as 2 metres high.
There are also some
prehistoric burial barrows in Czech Republic, built by unknown people. Unlike Slavic barrows, they can be found all across the country, though they are scarce. Distinguishing them from Slavic ones is not an easy task for the unskilled eye. Perhaps the most famous of them forms the top of the
Žuráň
Žuráň is a small hill (268 metres) near the village of Podolí in the Czech Republic.
The hill became famous because 2 December 1805 Napoleon Bonaparte led his famous battle of Austerlitz from its peak. Therefore, peak of Žuráň was procla ...
hill near
Slavkov u Brna
Slavkov u Brna (; historically known in German as Austerlitz) is a town in Vyškov District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,000 inhabitants. The town gave its name to the Battle of Austerlitz which took place sev ...
; it is from here that
Napoleon commanded his forces during the
Battle of Austerlitz.
=France
=
*
Bougon
Bougon () is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in western France.
See also
*Communes of the Deux-Sèvres department
The following is a list of the 256 communes of the Deux-Sèvres department of Fran ...
(
Deux-Sèvres) tumuli are a set of five tumuli all at one site: the building and using took place over a long period from to BC. This set is considered to be one of the oldest western European megalithic
necropolis.
* The
Bussy-le-Château commune (
Marne) has five Roman, Visigoth and Burgundian tumuli: three of them remain relatively intact along the .
* The neolithic Saint-Michel de Carnac tumulus in
Carnac
Carnac (; br, italic=no, Karnag, ) is a commune beside the Gulf of Morbihan on the south coast of Brittany in the Morbihan department in north-western France.
Its inhabitants are called ''Carnacois'' in French. Carnac is renowned for the C ...
was built between and BC.
* A few kilometers from
Carnac
Carnac (; br, italic=no, Karnag, ) is a commune beside the Gulf of Morbihan on the south coast of Brittany in the Morbihan department in north-western France.
Its inhabitants are called ''Carnacois'' in French. Carnac is renowned for the C ...
are the neolithic near the famous
broken Menhir.
* The five in the
Benon forest form a neolithic necropolis in the
Courçon commune (
Charente-Maritime).
* is a neolithic monument located about 5 kilometres west of
Saint-Nazaire (
Loire-Atlantique).
* The tumulus of Lamalou dolmen is situated at the headwaters of the
Lamalou river.
* Tumulus and burial chamber (dolmen) of ''Bergerie de Panissière'' is located near
Alès (
Gard).
* Tanouëdou tumulus is located near
Bourbriac
Bourbriac (; br, Boulvriag; Gallo: ''Bólbriac'') is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France.
Population
Inhabitants of Bourbriac are called in French ''Briacins''.
Breton language
In 2007, 9.7% of prima ...
(
Côtes d'Armor,
Brittany).
* on
Prissé-la-Charrière commune (Deux-Sèvres): a neolithic long barrow with tumulus , dating from to BC.
* , on the
Melrand commune (
Morbihan
Morbihan ( , ; br, Mor-Bihan ) is a department in the administrative region of Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastl ...
), is listed as
monument historique since 1972.
* Appenwihr tumuli on the
Appenwihr
Appenwihr (; ) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
See also
* Communes of the Haut-Rhin department
The following is a list of the 366 communes of the French department of Haut-Rhin.
The communes co ...
commune (
Haut Rhin) are a set of nine small tumuli (about tall and one higher at ), not far to the north-west. The results of the excavations are exposed in the
Unterlinden Museum in
Colmar.
=Germany
=
''Hügelgrab'' ("barrow", "burial mound" or "tumulus") sites in Germany dating to the Early and Middle Bronze Age.
Barrows or tumuli sites in Germany dating to the Late Bronze and Iron Age.
Barrows or tumuli sites in Germany dating to the Stone Age.
Other Barrows/tumuli in Germany of unstated date.
=Ireland
=
A tumulus can be found close to the
Grianán of Aileach in
County Donegal. It has been suggested by historians such as
George Petrie, who surveyed the site in the early 19th century, that the tumulus may predate the
ringfort of Aileach by many centuries possibly to the Neolithic age. Surrounding stones were laid horizontally, and converged towards the centre. The mound had been excavated in Petrie's time, but nothing explaining its meaning was discovered. It was subsequently destroyed, but its former position is marked by a heap of broken stones. Similar mounds can be found at The
Hill of Tara and there are several prominent tumuli at
Brú na Bóinne
(; 'Palace of the Boyne' or more properly 'Valley of the Boyne') or Boyne valley tombs, is an area in County Meath, Ireland, located in a bend of the River Boyne. It contains one of the world's most important prehistoric landscapes dating from ...
in County Meath.
=Italy
=
Some large tumulus tombs can be found especially in the
Etruscan culture, carved directly into the local limestone (
tufa), and covered by a limestone dome and a layer of dirt and grass (see image to the right). From the outside, they resemble burial
mounds.
The interior of these tumuli, however, is what makes them so unique. Most tombs have one central corridor, where
sarcophagi and
urns house the
cremated
Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning.
Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre ...
remains of the deceased were found, and the various rooms to either side of the corridor which contain the deceased's various belongings.
Many tombs also hold paintings, or
frescos
Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...
, that in many cases represent the funeral, scenes of real life, or the afterlife. The most significant
necropolises with tumulus tombs are
Veio
Veii (also Veius; it, Veio) was an important ancient Etruscan city situated on the southern limits of Etruria and north-northwest of Rome, Italy. It now lies in Isola Farnese, in the comune of Rome. Many other sites associated with and in th ...
,
Cerveteri,
Vetulonia, and
Populonia. The tumulus of
Montopoli is relative of archaic center
Colli della Città along paratiberina way in
Tiber
The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by th ...
valley.
Smaller barrows are dated to the
Villanova period (ninth-eighth centuries BC), but the biggest were used in the following centuries (from the seventh century afterwards) by the Etruscan aristocracy.
=Netherlands
=
Burial mounds are the most numerous archaeological monuments in the Netherlands. In many places, these prehistoric graves are still clearly visible as low hills. The oldest tumuli (''grafheuvels'') in the Netherlands were built near
Apeldoorn about 5,000 years ago. Concentrations of tumuli from the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
are located on the
Veluwe and
Drenthe.
Early scholarly investigation of tumuli and
hunebedden and theorising as to their origins was undertaken from the 17th century by notably
Johan Picardt. Although many have disappeared over the centuries, some 3000 tumuli are known of which 636 are protected as
Rijksmonument. The largest tumulus in the Netherlands is the
grave of a king near Oss.
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden,
Drents Museum, and
Huis van Hilde have findings from tumuli in their collections.
=Portugal
=
One of the densest manifestations of the megalithic phenomenon in Europe occurred in
Portugal. In the north of the country there are more than 1000 late prehistoric barrows. They generally occur in clusters, forming a necropolis. The method of inhumation usually involves a
dolmen. The tumuli, dated from c. 4450 to 1900 BC, are up to 3 metres high, with diameters from 6 to 30 metres. Most of them are mounds of earth and stones, but the more recent ones are composed largely or entirely of stones (cairns). In
Portuguese, barrows are called , from the Latin , given to them by the Romans because of their shape, similar to the breast of a woman.
Scandinavia
Burial mounds were in use from the
Stone Age until the 11th century in Scandinavia and figure heavily in
Norse paganism. In their original state they usually appear as small, man-made hillocks, though many examples have been damaged by
ploughing or plundering so that little visible evidence remains.
The tumuli of Scandinavia is of a great variety of designs, depending on the cultural traditions of the era in which they were constructed. The tumuli tombs may contain single graves, collective graves and both inhumation and cremation was practiced, again depending on the era, but also on geography. Many tumuli in Scandinavia shows a continuation of use from Stone Age to
Viking Age
The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...
. In the Viking Age (and perhaps in earlier times as well) burning the deceased, was believed to transfer the person to
Valhalla by the consuming force of fire. Archaeological finds testifies that the cremation fire could reach temperatures of up to 1500 °C. The remains were often covered with cobblestones and then a layer of gravel and sand and finally a thin layer of turf or placed in urns. The tumuli were used for
ancestral worshipping, an important practice in Norse culture and many places shows continuation of use for millennia.
=Sweden
=
*
Anundshög, located just outside the City of
Västerås, is Sweden's largest burial mound.
*
Gamla Uppsala, The Royal mounds (Swedish: Kungshögarna) is the name for the three large barrows which are located in Gamla Uppsala. According to ancient mythology and folklore, it would be the three gods Thor, Odin and Freyr lying in Kungshögarna or Uppsala högar.
* Gravhög Gårdstånga, situated in
Eslöv Municipality
Eslöv Municipality (''Eslövs kommun'') is one of 290 municipalities of Sweden, situated in Skåne County in southern Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Eslöv.
The present municipality was created in 1971, when the former ''City of Esl� ...
,
Skåne County, is the site of a Bronze Age burial mound, (Swedish: ''Gravhög'').
*
Hågahögen, King Björn's barrow in Håga (
Old Norse word: ''haugr'') near
Uppsala has a very strong connection with
Björn at Haugi
Björn at Haugi ("Björn at the Barrow" from the Old Norse word ''haugr'' meaning mound), Björn på Håga, Björn II or Bern was, according to '' Hervarar saga'', a Swedish king and the son of Erik Björnsson, and Björn ruled together in diarc ...
.
* Kungshögar, an archaeological site on the Lake
Mälaren island of
Adelsö in
Ekerö Municipality, contains five large burial mounds.
*
Skalunda hög in
Västergötland, the site of Skalunda Barrow, an historic burial mound.
=Norway
=
*
Raknehaugen
Rakni's Mound ( no, Raknehaugen) is a large mound at Ullensaker in Akershus county, Norway. It is the largest free-standing prehistoric monument in Norway and is one of the largest barrows in Northern Europe. It dates to the Migration Age and ...
, dated to c. 550 AD, is located in the traditional district of
Romerike. At 77 m in diameter and a height of 15 m, it is the largest tumulus in Northern Europe.
*
Jellhaugen outside
Halden
Halden (), between 1665 and 1928 known as Fredrikshald, is both a town and a municipality in Viken county, Norway. The municipality borders Sarpsborg to the northwest, Rakkestad to the north and Aremark to the east, as well as the Swedish ...
,
Østfold
Østfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in southeastern Norway. It borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden ( Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other s ...
, considered the 2nd biggest in Norway, and dated back to around 500 AD.
*
Gokstadhaugen
The Gokstad Mound (Norwegian: Gokstadhaugen) is a large burial mound at Gokstad Farm in Sandefjord (formerly Sandar municipality) in Vestfold County, Norway. It is also known as the King's Mound (''Kongshaugen'') and is where the 9th century Go ...
a burial mound in
Sandefjord
Sandefjord () is a city and the most populous municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838. The municipality of Sandar was merged into Sandefjord on 1 January 1969. On 1 ...
,
Vestfold
Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered ...
, revealed a ship burial containing the
Gokstad ship, a Viking era ship dating to the 9th century. The ship is the largest in the
Viking Ship Museum in
Bygdøy,
Oslo.
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Oseberghaugen, the Oseberg burial mound at Oseberg near
Tønsberg in
Vestfold
Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered ...
county, contained the
Oseberg ship, a well-preserved Viking era ship dating from around 800 AD.
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Borrehaugene (Borre mound cemetery) forms part of the
Borre National Park
Borre mound cemetery (Norwegian: ''Borrehaugene'' from the ''Old Norse'' words ''borró'' and ''haugr'' meaning mound) forms part of the Borre National Park at Horten in Vestfold og Telemark, Norway.
It is home to seven large and 21 smaller b ...
in
Horten,
Vestfold
Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered ...
. The park covers and its collection of burial mounds includes, seven large mounds and one 25 small cairns.
*
Båthaugen, a boat burial mound found at
Rolvsøy
Rolvsøy is a village, an island, and a former municipality in Viken county, Norway.
It was created by a split from Tune on 1 January 1911. At that time Rolvsøy had a population of 2,381. On 1 January 1994 Rolvsøy was incorporated into the m ...
in
Tune,
Østfold
Østfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in southeastern Norway. It borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden ( Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other s ...
, contained the
Tune ship, a Viking Age ship of the "karv" type. The ship was built around AD 900 and is made of clinkered oak planks.
*
Storhaug (Great Mound) ship's burial mound
Avaldsnes
Avaldsnes is a village in Karmøy municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located on the northeastern part of the island of Karmøy, along the Karmsundet strait, just south of the town of Haugesund. The village was an ancient c ...
on
Karmøy in
Rogaland County,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...
contained a ship made of oak.
*
Grønhaug (Green Mound), a ship burial at
Avaldsnes
Avaldsnes is a village in Karmøy municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located on the northeastern part of the island of Karmøy, along the Karmsundet strait, just south of the town of Haugesund. The village was an ancient c ...
, contained an approximately 15-metre (49 ft) long boat with remains of a man's grave from the 10th century.
*
Flagghaugen (Flag Hill Mound) at
Avaldsnes
Avaldsnes is a village in Karmøy municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located on the northeastern part of the island of Karmøy, along the Karmsundet strait, just south of the town of Haugesund. The village was an ancient c ...
, one of Norway's richest grave dating from the pre-Viking Period, contained a neck ring of 600 grams (19 ozt) of pure gold, weapons, bandoleer mountings and various tubs of silver and bronze.
*
Karnilshaugen, in
Gloppen in the county of
Sogn og Fjordane, is Karnil's tumulus.
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Osneshaugen, in
Ulsteinvik in the county of
Møre og Romsdal, is a tumulus overlooking the Osnes beach. It is believed to have been sacked, and has not been excavated in modern times. It has been dated to the Bronze Age.
=Denmark
=
Denmark has about 20,000 preserved tumuli, with the oldest being around 5,000 years old. A great number of tumuli in Denmark has been destroyed in the course of history, ploughed down for agricultural fields or used for road or dyke constructions. Tumuli have been protected by law since 1937 and is officially supervised by the Danish Agency for Culture. Examples of tumuli in Denmark are:
*
Yding Skovhøj
Yding Skovhøj in Horsens municipality, Jutland is one of Denmark's highest points.
Features
Its height is 172.54 m above sea level when the height of one of the Bronze Age burial mounds built on the top of the hill is included. If these ...
in
Horsens municipality,
Jutland
Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
is one of Denmark's Bronze Age burial mounds built on the top of the hill.
*
Hov Dås in
Thisted municipality,
North Jutland is one of Denmark's neolithic burial mounds built on the top of the hill.
*
Klekkende Høj is a megalithic
passage grave constructed in the
Stone Age on the island of
Møn. It takes its name from the nearby village of
Klekkende.
*
Lindholm Høje
Lindholm Høje (Lindholm Hills, from Old Norse ''haugr'', hill or mound) is a major Viking burial site and former settlement situated to the north of and overlooking the city of Aalborg in Denmark.
About the area
The southern (lower) part of Lin ...
is a major Viking and
Iron Age burial site and former settlement, situated to the north of and overlooking the city of
Aalborg.
*
Grønjægers Høj, meaning "the mound of Green Hunter", dates to the
Nordic Bronze Age and is located near
Fanefjord Church on the Danish island of
Møn.
*
Gorm and Thyra's Høje
Gorm may refer to:
Computing
* Gorm (computing), a rapid application development tool
* GORM, the "fantastic ORM library" for the Go programming language
* Grails Object-Relational Mapping, see
People
* Gorm the Old (died 958), Danish king
* ...
, two huge burial mounds at
Jelling.
North America
Canada
Human settlement in
L'Anse Amour dates back at least 7,500 years as evidenced by the burial mound of a
Maritime Archaic boy. His body was wrapped in a shroud of bark or hide and placed face down with his head pointed to the west. The site was first excavated in the 1970s.
The Augustine Mound is an important
Mi'kmaq burial site in New Brunswick.
Taber Hill
Taber Hill, also spelled Tabor Hill, is a Wyandot (Huron) burial mound in Toronto, Ontario. It is located northeast of the intersection of Lawrence Avenue and Bellamy Road in Scarborough. It is estimated to date from the 14th century and conta ...
is a
Haudenosaunee burial mound in
Toronto, Ontario.
In the southern regions of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, evidence of ancient mound builders was discovered by archaeologists, beginning with excavations by
Henry Youle Hind in 1857.
In Southwestern British Columbia, several types of burial mounds are known from the Salishan region (Hill-Tout 1895).
United States
Mound building was a central feature of the public
architecture of many
Native American and
Mesoamerican cultures from Chile to Minnesota. Thousands of mounds in the United States have been destroyed as a result of farming, pot-hunting, amateur and professional archaeology, road-building and construction. Surviving mounds are still found in river valleys, especially along the
Mississippi,
Tennessee and
Ohio
Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
Rivers, and as far west as
Spiro Mounds in Oklahoma.
Mounds were used for burial, to support residential and religious structures, to represent a shared
cosmology, and to unite and demarcate community. Common forms include conical mounds, ridge-top mounds,
platform mounds, and animal
effigy mounds, but there are many variations. Mound building in the USA is believed to date back to at least 3400 BC in the Southeast (see
Watson Brake). The
Adena and the
Mississippian cultures are principally known for their mounds, as is the
Hopewell tradition. The largest mound site north of
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
is
Cahokia Mounds, a vast
World Heritage Site located just east of
St. Louis, Missouri.
South America
Uruguay
The Cerritos de Indios (Spanish for: ''Indian Mounds'' or ''Indian Little Hills'') are a collection of more than 3000 tumulus or
earth mounds found mainly in the eastern region of
Uruguay.
Of different sizes and shapes some of them date back to 5000–4000 years ago being among the oldest examples of tumulus building in the new world. It is still unknown to this day the name or the fate of the people group responsible for its construction as they disappeared long before the arrival of the first European explorers and left no written records.
It is believed that they were used for burial, as well for living and practicing agriculture in the flat marshlands and plains of eastern Uruguay.
See also
*
Barrow-downs in
Minor places in Middle-earth
The geography of Middle-earth encompasses the physical, political, and moral geography of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, strictly a continent on the planet of Arda but widely taken to mean the physical world, and '' Eä'', all ...
*
Dolmen
*
Stupa
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
* Grinsell, L.V., 1936, ''The Ancient Burial-mounds of England''. London: Methuen.
*
External links
*
English Heritage Monument Class DescriptionsThe Victorian Barrow Diggers of WalesLocation Tumuli of Grimde TienenComprehensive Database of Archaeological Site Reports in JapanHeritage Quest research project using
LiDAR data
{{Authority control
Indo-European archaeology
Indo-European religion
Latin words and phrases