A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a

mound A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically higher el ...

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 surfa ...

and

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

s raised over a

grave A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grave ...

or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''

kurgan A kurgan is a type of tumulus 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 Asi ...

s'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

, 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 Long barrows are a style of monument constructed across Western Europe in the fifth and fourth millennia BCE, during the Early Neolithic period. Typically constructed from earth and either timber or stone, those using the latter material repres ...

is a long tumulus, usually constructed on top of several

burial Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

s, such as

passage grave A passage grave or passage tomb consists of one or more burial chambers covered in earth or with stone, and having a narrow access passage made of large stones. These structures usually date from the Neolithic Age, and are found largely in Wester ...

s. A

round barrow A round barrow is a type of tumulus and is one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. Although concentrated in Europe, they are found in many parts of the world, probably because of their simple construction and universal purpose. ...

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 dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were somet ...

, a

cist A cist ( or ; also kist ; from grc-gre, κίστη, Middle Welsh ''Kist'' or Germanic ''Kiste'') is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle East ...

, 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 A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interred than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could ...

. Examples of barrows include

Duggleby Howe Duggleby Howe (also known as Howe Hill, Duggleby) is one of the largest round barrows in Britain, located on the southern side of the Great Wold Valley in the district of Ryedale, and is one of four such monuments in this area, known collectively ...

and

Maeshowe Maeshowe (or Maes Howe; non, Orkhaugr) is a Neolithic chambered cairn and passage grave situated on Mainland Orkney, Scotland. It was probably built around . In the archaeology of Scotland, it gives its name to the Maeshowe type of chambered ...

Etymology

The word ''tumulus'' is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the 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 the power of the ...

for 'mound' or 'small hill', which is derived from the

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo-E ...

root *''teuh₂-'' with extended zero grade *''tum-'', 'to bulge, swell' also found in ''tomb'', ''tumor'', ''tumescent'', ''thumb'', ''thigh'', and ''thousand''.

Burial accounts

The funeral of

Patroclus In Greek mythology, as recorded in Homer's ''Iliad'', Patroclus (pronunciation variable but generally ; grc, Πάτροκλος, Pátroklos, glory of the father) was a childhood friend, close wartime companion, and the presumed (by some later a ...

is described in book 23 of

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

's ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odysse ...

''. Patroclus is burned on a

pyre A pyre ( grc, πυρά; ''pyrá'', from , ''pyr'', "fire"), also known as a funeral pyre, is a structure, usually made of wood, for burning a body as part of a funeral rite or execution. As a form of cremation, a body is placed upon or under the ...

, and his bones are collected into a golden

urn An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...

in two layers of fat. The barrow is built on the location of the pyre.

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's ''Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, k ...

then sponsors funeral games, consisting of a

chariot race Chariot racing ( grc-gre, ἁρματοδρομία, harmatodromia, la, ludi circenses) was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine sports. In Greece, chariot racing played an essential role in aristocratic funeral games from ...

, boxing, wrestling, running, a duel between two champions to the first blood, discus throwing, archery and spear throwing.

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The ...

's body in the Anglo-Saxon poem ''

'' is taken to Hronesness, where it is burned on a funeral pyre. During cremation, the

Geats The Geats ( ; ang, gēatas ; non, gautar ; sv, götar ), sometimes called ''Goths'', were a large North Germanic tribe who inhabited ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the late Middle Ages. They are one of th ...

lament the death of their lord, a widow's lament being mentioned in particular, singing

dirge A dirge ( la, dirige, naenia) is a somber song or lament expressing mourning or grief, such as would be appropriate for performance at a funeral. Often taking the form of a brief hymn, dirges are typically shorter and less meditative than elegies ...

s as they

circumambulate Circumambulation (from Latin ''circum'' around and ''ambulātus ''to walk) is the act of moving around a sacred object or idol. Circumambulation of temples or deity images is an integral part of Hindu and Buddhist devotional practice (known in S ...

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 Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European traditio ...

's burial in

Jordanes Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Goths, Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history (''Romana ...

' ''

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 The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

circled it, as in circus games. An Old Irish ''Life of

Columcille Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is toda ...

'' 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 Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

often classify tumuli according to their location, form, and date of construction (see also

). Some British types are listed below: *

Bank barrow A bank barrow, sometimes referred to as a barrow-bank, ridge barrow, or ridge mound, is a type of tumulus first identified by O.G.S. Crawford in 1938. In the United Kingdom, they take the form of a long, sinuous, parallel-sided mound, approximat ...

* Bell barrow *

Bowl barrow A bowl barrow is a type of burial mound or tumulus. A barrow is a mound of earth used to cover a tomb. The bowl barrow gets its name from its resemblance to an upturned bowl. Related terms include ''cairn circle'', ''cairn ring'', ''howe'', ''ker ...

* D-shaped barrow – round barrow with a purposely flat edge at one side often defined by stone slabs. *

Disc barrow A disc barrow is a type of tumulus or round barrow, a variety of fancy barrow identified in English Heritage's Monument Class Descriptions. A disc barrow comprises a circular or oval-shaped flat platform, defined by a continuous earthen bank and ...

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 bui ...

– 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 Long barrows are a style of monument constructed across Western Europe in the fifth and fourth millennia BCE, during the Early Neolithic period. Typically constructed from earth and either timber or stone, those using the latter material repres ...

Oval barrow An oval barrow is the name given by archaeologists to a type of prehistoric burial tumulus of roughly oval shape. In the British mid to late Neolithic and early Bronze Age, oval barrows may indicate a transition between earlier long barrows with m ...

– 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 parts ...

long barrow consisting of an elliptical, rather than rectangular or trapezoidal mound. *

Platform barrow Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...

– 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 Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

. *

Pond barrow A pond barrow is a burial mound, circular in shape, well formed, and with an embanked rim made of the earth taken from the depression made in the ground. In the barrow's centre there is generally a pit or shaft, sometimes containing a burial, ...

– a barrow consisting of a shallow circular depression, surrounded by a bank running around the rim of the depression, from the

. * Ring barrow – a bank that encircles a number of burials. *

Round barrow A round barrow is a type of tumulus and is one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. Although concentrated in Europe, they are found in many parts of the world, probably because of their simple construction and universal purpose. ...

– a circular feature created by the

peoples of Britain and also the later

Romans 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 lette ...

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

, and

Saxons The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

. Divided into subclasses such as saucer and bell barrow – the

Six Hills The Six Hills are a collection of Roman barrows situated alongside the old Great North Road on Six Hills Common in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. They are classed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument and are protected by law. They form the lar ...

are a rare Roman example. *

Saucer barrow A round barrow is a type of tumulus and is one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. Although concentrated in Europe, they are found in many parts of the world, probably because of their simple construction and universal purpose. ...

– a circular Bronze Age barrow that features a low, wide mound surrounded by a ditch that may have an external bank. * Square barrow – burial site, usually of

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

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 farmer ...

, 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 pa ...

. 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 St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...

. * 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 for ...

at Soulton in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

. * Higher Ground Meadow in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

* Warwickshire. Plans have also been announced for a barrow in Milton Keynes and in Powis.

Sites

Africa

Horn of Africa

Salweyn Salweyn, also known as Salwine, is a proto-Somali archaeological site located in the Sanaag region of Somaliland. Overview Salweyn is situated to the east of the old coastal town of Heis. A small eponymous creek is located in the area. The site ...

in Somaliland contains a very large field of

s, 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 Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate ...

, some well-crafted enamels, and a mask of

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

design.

West Africa

Preceded by assumed earlier sites in the Eastern

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

, tumuli with

megalithic A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

monuments developed as early as 4700 BC in the Saharan region of

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languages These megalithic

monuments A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

in the Saharan region of Niger and the Eastern Sahara may have served as antecedents for the

mastaba A mastaba (, or ), also mastabah, mastabat or pr- djt (meaning "house of stability", " house of eternity" or "eternal house" in Ancient Egyptian), is a type of ancient Egyptian tomb in the form of a flat-roofed, rectangular structure with inwar ...

s and

pyramids A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilate ...

of ancient Egypt. In

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesmonument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

al tumuli – a

burial (5695 BP – 5101 BP) at

Adrar Bous Adrar Bous is a massif in the Aïr Mountains on the western edge of the Ténéré Desert, Niger. Archaeological research at Adrar Bous, conducted by J. Desmond Clark, has produced finds spanning the Late Acheulean (1.76 – 0.13 Ma) through the ...

, and a tumulus covered with gravel (6229 BP – 4933 BP) at Iwelen, in the

Aïr Mountains The Aïr Mountains or Aïr Massif ( tmh, Ayăr; Hausa: Eastern ''Azbin'', Western ''Abzin'') is a triangular massif, located in northern Niger, within the Sahara. Part of the West Saharan montane xeric woodlands ecoregion, they r ...

. 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 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 ...

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, an ...

, Dhar Tagant, Dhar Walata), with stone walls, which vary in scale from (e.g., 2

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ab ...

, 80 hectares), there were walled

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

land utilized for

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

gardening Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, fruits ...

as well as land with

granaries A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals ...

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 supernatural, ...

for the people of Tichitt culture. At Wanar, Senegal,

monolith A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive rock (geology), stone or rock, such as some mountains. For instance, Savandurga, Savandurga mountain is a monolith mountain in India. Erosion usually exposes the geological for ...

-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 ,french: Fleuve Sénégal) , name_etymology = , image = Senegal River Saint Louis.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Fishermen on the bank of the Senegal River estuary at the outskirts of Saint-Louis, Senegal ...

Valley, the

Serer people The Serer people are a West African ethnoreligious group.

may have created tumuli (before 13th century AD),

shell middens A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofac ...

(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 West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

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 The Inner Niger Delta, also known as the Macina or Masina, is the inland delta of the Niger River. It is an area of fluvial wetlands, lakes and floodplains in the semi-arid Sahel area of central Mali, just south of the Sahara desert. Location ...

, 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. Mali ...

Lakes Region, there are two monumental tumuli constructed in the time period of the

Trans-Saharan trade Trans-Saharan trade requires travel across the Sahara between sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa. While existing from prehistoric times, the peak of trade extended from the 8th century until the early 17th century. The Sahara once had a very d ...

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 ...

. The El Oualadji monumental tumulus, which dates between 1030 AD and 1220 AD and has two human remains buried with

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

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, ...

. 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 The Mali Empire ( Manding: ''Mandé''Ki-Zerbo, Joseph: ''UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century'', p. 57. University of California Press, 1997. or Manden; ar, مالي, Māl ...

Asia

Central Asia

The word

is of Turkic origin, derives from

Proto-Turkic Proto-Turkic is the linguistic reconstruction of the common ancestor of the Turkic languages that was spoken by the Proto-Turks before their divergence into the various Turkic peoples. Proto-Turkic separated into Oghur (western) and Common Turk ...

*Kur- ("to erect (a building), to establish"). In Ukraine and Russia, there are royal kurgans of

Varangian The Varangians (; non, Væringjar; gkm, Βάραγγοι, ''Várangoi'';Varangian
" Online Etymo ...

chieftains, such as the Black Grave in Ukrainian

Chernihiv Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within ...

(excavated in the 19th century),

Oleg Oleg (russian: Олег), Oleh ( uk, Олег), or Aleh ( be, Алег) is an East Slavic given name. The name is very common in Russia, Ukraine and Belаrus. It derives from the Old Norse ''Helgi'' ( Helge), meaning "holy", "sacred", or "bless ...

's Grave in Russian

Staraya Ladoga Staraya Ladoga (russian: Ста́рая Ла́дога, p=ˈstarəjə ˈladəɡə, lit=Old Ladoga), known as Ladoga until 1704, is a rural locality (a '' selo'') in Volkhovsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Volkhov River near ...

, and vast, intricate Rurik's Hill near Russian

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...

. Other important kurgans are found in Ukraine and South Russia and are associated with much more ancient

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

peoples, notably the

Scythian The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...

s (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 subregion, 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 t ...

, in particular

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. 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 The Pontic–Caspian steppe, formed by the Caspian steppe and the Pontic steppe, is the steppeland stretching from the northern shores of the Black Sea (the Pontus Euxinus of antiquity) to the northern area around the Caspian Sea. It extends ...

, kurgans spread into much of

and

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other g ...

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 The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often v ...

Bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

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 f ...

, Antiquity and

Middle Age 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 a ...

s, with ancient traditions still active in Southern

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

and Central Asia.

Near East

=Turkey

On the

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

n 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

Lydia Lydia (Lydian language, Lydian: ‎𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the mod ...

n mounds of the Aegean inland),

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; grc, Φρυγία, ''Phrygía'' ) was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. After its conquest, it became a region of the great empires ...

n mounds in

Gordium Gordion ( Phrygian: ; el, Γόρδιον, translit=Górdion; tr, Gordion or ; la, Gordium) was the capital city of ancient Phrygia. It was located at the site of modern Yassıhüyük, about southwest of Ankara (capital of Turkey), in the ...

(Central Anatolia), and the famous

Commagene Commagene ( grc-gre, Κομμαγηνή) was an ancient Greco-Iranian kingdom ruled by a Hellenized branch of the Iranian Orontid dynasty that had ruled over Armenia. The kingdom was located in and around the ancient city of Samosata, which s ...

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 is ...

district of

Manisa province Manisa Province ( tr, ) is a province in western Turkey. Its neighboring provinces are İzmir to the west, Aydın to the south, Denizli to the southeast, Uşak to the east, Kütahya to the northeast, and Balıkesir to the north. The city of Ma ...

. The site is very close to the southern shoreline of

Lake Marmara Lake Marmara ( tr, Marmara Gölü) is a lake in Manisa Province, western Turkey, bordered by the district areas of Gölmarmara to the northwest, whose name itself is inspired by the lake, and in larger part by Salihli. Lake Marmara is located in ...

(Lake Gyges or Gygaea). Bin Tepeler is a Lydian

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

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 Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...

, this giant tumulus belongs to the famous Lydian King

Alyattes Alyattes (Lydian language: ; grc, Ἀλυάττης ; reigned c. 635-585 BC), sometimes described as Alyattes I, was the fourth king of the Mermnad dynasty in Lydia, the son of Sadyattes, grandson of Ardys, and great-grandson of Gyges. ...

who ruled between 619 and 560 BC. There is also another mound belonging to King Gyges. 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 economi ...

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. TumMMWPintro

(Gordion) was the capital of the ancient kingdom of

. Its ruins are in the immediate vicinity of

Polatlı Polatlı (formerly Ancient Greek: Γόρδιον, Górdion and Latin: Gordium) is a city and a district in Ankara Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey, 80 km west of the Turkish capital Ankara, on the road to Eskişehir. Accordi ...

, near the Turkish capital

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

. At this site, approximately 80–90 tumuli date back to the Phrygian,

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

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 Midas (; grc-gre, Μίδας) was the name of a king in Phrygia with whom several myths became associated, as well as two later members of the Phrygian royal house. The most famous King Midas is popularly remembered in Greek mythology for his ...

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 Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and str ...

. Among the many fine

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

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 is ...

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 Adıyaman ( ku, Semsûr) is a city and district in southeastern Turkey, and the capital of the Adıyaman Province. The inhabitants of the city are mostly Kurdish. Etymology An unverified theory is that the former name of the city ''Hisn-Mansur'' ...

province of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. 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

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 S ...

where divine figures used to embody the

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 letter ...

perceptions together.

=Israel

A tumulus forms the center of the ancient

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 The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...

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,

or stone heap. Near the western city limits of modern

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, 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 William Foxwell Albright (May 24, 1891– September 19, 1971) was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist, and expert on ceramics. He is considered "one of the twentieth century's most influential American biblical scholars." ...

, 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 stu ...

in 1983. The association of these tumuli with the Judean kings who ruled

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 LMLK seals (with LMLK meaning 'of the king') are ancient Hebrew Stamp seal, seals stamped on the handles of large storage jars first issued in the reign of King Hezekiah (circa 700 BC) and discovered mostly in and around Jerusalem. Several comp ...

impressions and two other handles with associated Concentric Circle incisions, all of which suggests this tumulus belonged to either King

Hezekiah Hezekiah (; hbo, , Ḥīzqīyyahū), or Ezekias); grc, Ἐζεκίας 'Ezekías; la, Ezechias; also transliterated as or ; meaning "Yahweh, Yah shall strengthen" (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the 13th king of Kingdom of Jud ...

or his son

Manasseh Manasseh () is both a given name and a surname. Its variants include Manasses and Manasse. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Ezekiel Saleh Manasseh (died 1944), Singaporean rice and opium merchant and hotelier * Jacob Manasseh (die ...

. * When comparing the number of these tumuli to the total number of Israelite kings (northern and southern), note that

Saul Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered t ...

never ruled in

, 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

; if any ceremonies were held for them, they would have transpired in the north (near

Bethel Bethel ( he, בֵּית אֵל, translit=Bēṯ 'Ēl, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; el, Βαιθήλ; la, Bethel) was an ancient Israelite sanct ...

, Tirzah, or

Samaria Samaria (; he, שֹׁמְרוֹן, translit=Šōmrōn, ar, السامرة, translit=as-Sāmirah) is the historic and biblical name used for the central region of Palestine, bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The first- ...

South Asia

=India

= The Ahom kingdom in medieval

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

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'' was a type of mound, or small stone structure, found in

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

, including the coastal areas of

Makran Makran ( fa, مكران), mentioned in some sources as Mecran and Mokrān, is the coastal region of Baluchistan. It is a semi-desert coastal strip in Balochistan, in Pakistan and Iran, along the coast of the Gulf of Oman. It extends westwards, ...

East Asia

=China

= The

Chinese pyramids The term Chinese pyramids refers to pyramidal shaped structures in China, most of which are ancient mausoleums and burial mounds built to house the remains of several early emperors of China and their imperial relatives. About 38 of them are loca ...

house the remains of some of China's former

emperors An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

. 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 f ...

and Zhou

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

through the region, many hundreds of tumuli were also constructed by the "

Baiyue The Baiyue (, ), Hundred Yue, or simply Yue (; ), were various ethnic groups who inhabited the regions of East China, South China and Northern Vietnam during the 1st millennium BC and 1st millennium AD. They were known for their short hair, ...

" peoples of the Yangtze valley and southeastern China.

=Japan

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, powerful leaders built tumuli known as ''

kofun are megalithic tombs or tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century CE.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞典』� ...

''. The

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

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

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 shares ...

. Some well-known local tumuli are: *

Kamenica Tumulus The Kamenica Tumulus ( sq, Tuma e Kamenicës) is an important archaeological site in Kamenicë, Korçë County, Albania. The site includes a museum dedicated to the prehistory of Albania and of the surrounding region. History of the Tumulus Ex ...

* 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 The Glasinac-Mati culture is an archaeological culture, which first developed during the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in the western Balkan Peninsula in an area which encompassed much of modern Albania to the south, Kosovo to the east, Monte ...

, who buried their dead in tumulus.

=Bulgaria

The Thracian tomb Goliama Kosmatka, Bulgaria 01

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 Macedon ...

there are over 60,000 ancient

Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied t ...

mounds, of which only about 1,000 have been studied. There are also

and

Thraco-Roman The term Thraco-Roman describes the Romanization (cultural), Romanized culture of Thracians under the rule of the Roman Empire. The Odrysian kingdom of Thrace became a Roman client kingdom c. 20 BC, while the Greek city-states on the Black Sea coas ...

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 Kazanlak ( bg, Казанлък , Thracian and Greek Σευθόπολις (''Seuthopolis''), tr, Kazanlık) is a Bulgarian town in Stara Zagora Province, located in the middle of the plain of the same name, at the foot of the Balkan mountain ...

and

Sveshtari The Thracian Tomb of Svestari (Свещарска гробница, ''Sveshtarska grobnitsa'') is 2.5 km southwest of the village of Sveshtari, Razgrad Province, which is 42 km northeast of Razgrad, in northeast Bulgaria. The tomb is pr ...

tombs,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

sites. Located near the ancient Thracian capital cities of

Seuthopolis Seuthopolis (Ancient Greek: Σευθόπολις) was an ancient hellenistic-type city founded by the Thracian king Seuthes III between 325–315 BC and the capital of the Odrysian kingdom. Its ruins are now located at the bottom of the Koprinka ...

(of the

Odrysian kingdom The Odrysian Kingdom (; Ancient Greek: ) was a state grouping many Thracian tribes united by the Odrysae, which arose in the early 5th century BC and existed at least until the late 1st century BC. It consisted mainly of present-day Bulgaria an ...

) and Daosdava or Helis (of the

Getae The Getae ( ) or Gets ( ; grc, Γέται, singular ) were a Thracian-related tribe that once inhabited the regions to either side of the Lower Danube, in what is today northern Bulgaria and southern Romania. Both the singular form ''Get'' an ...

), perhaps they represented royal burials. Other notable tumulus are Thracian tomb of Aleksandrovo,

Thracian tomb Golyama Arsenalka Golyama Arsenalka mound is a Thracian burial tumulus with a subterranean stone building near the Bulgarian town of Shipka. It dates from the end of 5th century BCE. It is composed of a representative façade, a small antechamber and a domed ...

, Thracian tomb Shushmanets,

Thracian tomb Griffins The Thracian tomb Griffins, found in Bulgaria, has a façade decorated with plastic columns and with a pediment above them. The pediment`s ends are semi-palmettes, the lower leaves of which are elongated and look like heads of griffins. The temple ...

Thracian tomb Helvetia The Thracian tomb "Helvetia" mound near Shipka, Bulgaria, was built in the middle of the 4th century BC. Construction The walls of the tomb's entrance corridor are made of stone. After this corridor an antechamber is followed by a rectangul ...

Thracian tomb Ostrusha The Ostrusha mound is a Thracian burial tumulus near the Bulgarian town of Shipka. It was constructed in the middle of the 4th century BCE. The stone structures under the more than 18 meters high mound form one of the biggest representative to ...

, Tomb of Seuthes III and the other tombs around Starosel, others contained offerings such as the

Panagyurishte Panagyurishte ( bg, Панагюрище, also transliterated ''Panagjurište'', ) is a town in Pazardzhik Province, Southern Bulgaria, situated in a small valley in the Sredna Gora mountains. It is 91 km east of Sofia, 43 km north of P ...

and Rogozen treasures. Some of the sites are located in the

Valley of the Thracian Rulers The Valley of the Thracian Rulers is a name which was made popular by the archaeologist Georgi Kitov and describes the extremely high concentration and variety of monuments of the Thracian culture in the Kazanlak Valley. It is believed that there ...

. 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 The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

) 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

to the end of the

, by the

Illyrians The Illyrians ( grc, Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi''; la, Illyrii) were a group of Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo ...

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 Croatia ...

inhumation of dead under tumuli was certainly inherited from the earlier times, as early as the

Copper Age The Copper Age, also called the Chalcolithic (; from grc-gre, χαλκός ''khalkós'', "copper" and ''líthos'', "stone") or (A)eneolithic (from Latin '' aeneus'' "of copper"), is an archaeological period characterized by regular ...

. Smaller tumuli were used as the burial mounds, while bigger (some up to 7 metres high with 60 metres long base) were the

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...

s (empty tombs) and ritual places.

=Greece

= Some of the world's most prominent Tumuli, the Macedonian tombs and a cist-grave at

Vergina Vergina ( el, Βεργίνα, ''Vergína'' ) is a small town in northern Greece, part of Veria municipality in Imathia, Central Macedonia. Vergina was established in 1922 in the aftermath of the population exchanges after the Treaty of Laus ...

include the tomb of

Philip II Philip II may refer to: * Philip II of Macedon (382–336 BC) * Philip II (emperor) (238–249), Roman emperor * Philip II, Prince of Taranto (1329–1374) * Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342–1404) * Philip II, Duke of Savoy (1438-1497) * Philip ...

(359–336 BC), father of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

(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 Amphipolis ( ell, Αμφίπολη, translit=Amfipoli; grc, Ἀμφίπολις, translit=Amphipolis) is a municipality in the Serres (regional unit), Serres regional unit, Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, Greece. The seat of the municipality is ...

. Known as the

Kasta Tomb The Kasta Tomb ( el, Τύμβος Καστά), also known as the Amphipolis Tomb ( el, Τάφος της Αμφίπολης), is the largest ancient ''tumulus'' (burial mound) ever discovered in Greece, and by comparison dwarfs that of Philip ...

, 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 Continental Greece ( el, Στερεά Ελλάδα, Stereá Elláda; formerly , ''Chérsos Ellás''), colloquially known as Roúmeli (Ρούμελη), is a traditional geographic region of Greece. In English, the area is usually called Central ...

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

, 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 with ...

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 In the middle of the 19th century, an important Macedonian tomb, now known as Tomb A, was discovered near the Greek village of Korinos, at the site of ancient Pydna. In 1991 a second, smaller grave (Tomb B) was discovered and excavated. These two ...

Macedonian Tombs, Katerini At works to recover clay, two Macedonian tombs were discovered north of Katerini. Location The graves are located approximately 3.7 km northeast of the center of Katerini between the National Road 1, the main connection Athens - Thessaloniki, and ...

=Hungary

= There are over 40,000 tumuli in the

Great Hungarian Plain The Great Hungarian Plain (also known as Alföld or Great Alföld, hu, Alföld or ) is a plain occupying the majority of the modern territory of Hungary. It is the largest part of the wider Pannonian Plain. (However, the Great Hungarian plain ...

, the highest is

Gödény-halom Gödény-halom () is a prehistoric mound situated near the village of Békésszentandrás in Békés County, in the Southern Great Plain region of south-east Hungary. Description Gödény-halom is situated 7 kilometres away from the inner area ...

near the settlement of

Békésszentandrás Békésszentandrás is a village in Békés county, in the Southern Great Plain region of south-east Hungary. Geography Békésszentandrás, the western gate of Békés county, lies along the left bank of the Hármas-Körös River. The territory ...

, in

Békés county Békés (, , ro, Județul Bichiș) is an administrative division (county or ''megye'') in south-eastern Hungary, on the border with Romania. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Csongrád, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, and Hajdú-Bihar. The ...

. Sírhalom origins and forms are diverse: tells, graves, border barrows, watcher barrows.

=Serbia

= * Mrčajevci, several prehistoric tumuli * Bukovac, Illyrian tumuli and

* Five prehistoric tumuli in the Morava valley. * Gromile, Serbian tumuli in Ravna Gora. *

Kinđa Kinđa ( sr, Кинђа) is a Copper Age kurgan, or burial mound, in Serbia. Situated in the northeastern part of Vojvodina, near the town of Kikinda. Even though an artificial feature, it is one of the highest points of the north and northeaster ...

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 Kleink ...

Großmugl Großmugl is a town in the district of Korneuburg in Lower Austria in Austria. It is situated about 15 km north of Stockerau within the Weinviertel in Lower Austria. Großmugl takes up about 64.49 square kilometers, 29.91 percent of which ar ...

(

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

) * Pillichsdorf (Lower Austria) *

Niederhollabrunn Niederhollabrunn is a town in the district of Korneuburg in the Austrian state of Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in ...

(Lower Austria) * Gaisruck (in Niederösterreich) * Langenlebarn (in Niederösterreich) * Deutsch-Altenburg (in Niederösterreich) * Bernhardsthal (Lower Austria) * Siegendorf (

Burgenland Burgenland (; hu, Őrvidék; hr, Gradišće; Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland;'' Slovene: ''Gradiščanska'') is the easternmost and least populous state of Austria. It consists of two statutory cities and seven rural districts, with a total of ...

) * Schandorf (Burgenland) * Kleinklein (

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

) * Niederfellabrunn (Lower Austria)) * Oberhofen am Irrsee (

Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, a ...

) * Obermallebarn (Lower Austria) * Unterzögersdorf (Lower Austria)

=Belgium

= * Two Tumuli of Ambresin (

Liège Province Liège (; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is the easternmost province of the Wallonia region of Belgium. Liège Province is the only Belgian province that has borders with three countries. It borders (clockwise from the north) the Du ...

) * Tumulus of Avernas in Hannut (Liège): height: 8 m; circumference: 100 m * Tumulus of the "champ de la Tombe" in Braives (Liège), 1st century AD Roman tomb. * Tumulus of

Court-Saint-Étienne Court-Saint-Étienne (; wa, Coû-Sint-Stiene) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. On 1 January 2006 Court-Saint-Étienne had a total population of 9,408. The total area is which gives a population ...

(

Walloon Brabant Walloon Brabant (french: Brabant wallon ; nl, Waals-Brabant ; wa, Roman Payis) is a province located in Belgium's French-speaking region of Wallonia. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the province of Flemish Brabant (Flemish Region) and ...

), around 3,000 BC. * Tumulus of Glimes in Incourt (Walloon Brabant),

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...

period: height: 11 m; diameter: 50 m * Tumulus of Hottomont in Ramillies (

), tomb of : height: 11.5 m ; diameter: 50 m * Tumulus of Oleye ( Liek) (Liège) * Tumulus of

Pepin of Landen Pepin I (also Peppin, Pipin, or Pippin) of Landen (c. 580 – 27 February 640), also called the Elder or the Old, was the Mayor of the palace of Austrasia under the Merovingian King Dagobert I from 623 to 629. He was also the Mayor for Si ...

Landen Landen () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the city of Landen proper and the villages of Attenhoven, Eliksem, Eze ...

(

Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( nl, Vlaams-Brabant ; french: Brabant flamand ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Haina ...

) * Tumuli of the

Sonian Forest The Sonian Forest or Sonian Wood ( nl, Zoniënwoud, french: Forêt de Soignes, ) is a forest at the southeast edge of Brussels, Belgium. The Sonian Forest was a favorite hunting ground of the Habsburg Imperial family, and as such features promi ...

(Flemish Brabant), 1st millennium BC. * Three Tumuli of Grimde in

Tienen Tienen (; french: Tirlemont ) is a city and municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises Tienen itself and the towns of Bost, Goetsenhoven, Hakendover, Kumtich, Oorbeek, Oplinter, Sint-Margriete ...

(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. Hi ...

(

Hainaut Province Hainaut (, also , , ; nl, Henegouwen ; wa, Hinnot; pcd, Hénau), historically also known as Heynowes in English, is a province of Wallonia and Belgium. To its south lies the French department of Nord, while within Belgium it borders (clock ...

), 6th and 7th-century

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

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 Nat ...

(

) * Two Tumuli of

Waremme Waremme (; nl, Borgworm, ; wa, Wareme) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, in Belgium. The city is located on the River Geer ( nl, Jeker), in the loessic Haspengouw region. The economy is based on the ...

(Liège) * Tumuli of Wéris ( Belgian Luxembourg), 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

until the end of the

, 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 b ...

. The traditional round barrow experienced a brief resurgence following the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

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 A ship burial or boat grave is a burial in which a ship or boat is used either as the tomb for the dead and the grave goods, or as a part of the grave goods itself. If the ship is very small, it is called a boat grave. This style of burial was p ...

. 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 pop ...

. Early scholarly investigation of tumuli and theorising as to their origins was undertaken from the 17th century by

antiquaries An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifacts, archaeological and historic sit ...

, notably

John Aubrey John Aubrey (12 March 1626 – 7 June 1697) was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He is perhaps best known as the author of the ''Brief Lives'', his collection of short biographical pieces. He was a pioneer archaeologist, ...

, and

William Stukeley William Stukeley (7 November 1687 – 3 March 1765) was an English antiquarian, physician and Anglican clergyman. A significant influence on the later development of archaeology, he pioneered the scholarly investigation of the prehistoric ...

. During the 19th century in

the excavation of tumuli was a popular

pastime A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing oth ...

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 Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

Wayland's Smithy Wayland's Smithy is an Early Neolithic chambered long barrow located near the village of Ashbury in the south-central English county of Oxfordshire. The barrow is believed to have been constructed about 3600 BC by pastoral communities shortly ...

– Neolithic long barrow and chamber tomb in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

(historically

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

) *

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 Coun ...

– 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 Gl ...

– Neolithic chambered cairn and passage grave on Mainland,

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

– 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 to t ...

Sutton Hoo Sutton Hoo is the site of two early medieval cemeteries dating from the 6th to 7th centuries near the English town of Woodbridge. Archaeologists have been excavating the area since 1938, when a previously undisturbed ship burial containing a ...

– 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 ...

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 Lowes ...

Devil's Humps The Devil's Humps (also known as the Kings' Graves) are four Bronze Age barrows situated on Bow Hill on the South Downs near Stoughton, West Sussex. They are situated on a downland ridgeway crossed by an ancient trackway, above Kingley Vale.Dy ...

– Bronze Age barrow group on Bow Hill in

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

* Devil's Jumps – Bronze Age barrow group on the

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the east. ...

of West Sussex *

Seamer Beacon Seamer may refer to: Places * Seamer, Hambleton, North Yorkshire, England * Seamer, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England ** Seamer railway station People * Arthur John Seamer (1878–1963), New Zealand religious minister * Jake Seamer (1913 ...

– Bronze Age barrow near

Scarborough, North Yorkshire Scarborough () is a seaside town in the Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Scarborough is located on the North Sea coastline. Historic counties of England, Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town lies between 10 ...

=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 a ...

, 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 Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

and some neighbouring regions, like

and

Lusatia Lusatia (german: Lausitz, pl, Łużyce, hsb, Łužica, dsb, Łužyca, cs, Lužice, la, Lusatia, rarely also referred to as Sorbia) is a historical region in Central Europe, split between Germany and Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr ...

, 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 Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

), nor are they found in

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The me ...

. 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 Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

influences. Trizna 1899

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 to ...

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 České Budějovice (; german: Budweis ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 93,000 inhabitants. It is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše. České Budějovice is t ...

. 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 Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

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 proclai ...

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 seve ...

; it is from here that

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

commanded his forces during the

Battle of Austerlitz The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important and decisive engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near the town of Austerlitz in ...

=France

* Bougon (

Deux-Sèvres Deux-Sèvres () is a French department. ''Deux-Sèvres'' literally means "two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise are two rivers which have their sources in the department. It had a population of 374,878 in 2019.

) 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

. * The

Bussy-le-Château Bussy-le-Château () is a commune in the Marne department in the Grand Est region of Northeastern France. In 2018, it had a population of 173. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Bussinais'' (masculine) and ''Bussinaises'' (feminine). ...

commune (

Marne Marne can refer to: Places France *Marne (river), a tributary of the Seine *Marne (department), a département in northeastern France named after the river * La Marne, a commune in western France *Marne, a legislative constituency (France) Nethe ...

) 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

are the neolithic near the famous broken Menhir. * The five in the Benon forest form a neolithic necropolis in the

Courçon Courçon () is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France. Population See also * Communes of the Charente-Maritime department The following is a list of the 463 communes of the Charente-Maritime department of F ...

commune (

Charente-Maritime Charente-Maritime () is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region on the southwestern coast of France. Named after the river Charente, its prefecture is La Rochelle. As of 2019, it had a population of 651,358 with an area of 6,864 square kil ...

). * is a neolithic monument located about 5 kilometres west of

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...

(

Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; br, Liger-Atlantel; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', br, Liger-Izelañ, link=no) is a department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. It had a population o ...

). * 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 (Côtes d'Armor, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany). * on Prissé-la-Charrière commune (Deux-Sèvres): a neolithic long barrow with tumulus , dating from to BC. * , on the Melrand commune (Morbihan), is listed as monument historique since 1972. * Appenwihr tumuli on the Appenwihr 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 (artist), 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 in County Meath. Banditaccia Tumulus

=Italy

Some large tumulus tombs can be found especially in the Etruscan civilization, 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 Mound, mounds. The interior of these tumuli, however, is what makes them so unique. Most tombs have one central corridor, where Sarcophagus, sarcophagi and Urn, urns house the Cremation, cremated 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 Fresco, frescos, that in many cases represent the funeral, scenes of real life, or the afterlife. The most significant Necropolis, necropolises with tumulus tombs are Veio, Cerveteri, Vetulonia, and Populonia. The tumulus of Monopoli, Montopoli is relative of archaic center Colli della Città along paratiberina way in Tiber valley. Smaller barrows are dated to the Villanovan culture, Villanova period (ninth-eighth centuries BC), but the biggest were used in the following centuries (from the seventh century afterwards) by the Etruscan aristocracy. Verspreiding grafheuvels-urnenvelden Nederland

Verspreiding grafheuvels-urnenvelden Nederland

=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

are located on the Veluwe and Drenthe. Early scholarly investigation of tumuli and dolmen, 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 Vorstengraf (Oss), 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

. 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 language, 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 Nordic Stone Age, 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. 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, Skåne County, is the site of a Bronze Age burial mound, (Swedish: ''Gravhög''). * Håga mound, Hågahögen, King Björn's barrow in Håga (Old Norse word: ''haugr'') near Uppsala has a very strong connection with Björn at Haugi. * 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, 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, Østfold, considered the 2nd biggest in Norway, and dated back to around 500 AD. * Gokstadhaugen a burial mound in Sandefjord, Vestfold, 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 (Oslo), Viking Ship Museum in Bygdøy, Oslo. * Oseberghaugen, the Oseberg burial mound at Oseberg near Tønsberg in Vestfold county, contained the Oseberg ship, a well-preserved Viking era ship dating from around 800 AD. * Borre mound cemetery, Borrehaugene (Borre mound cemetery) forms part of the Borre National Park in Horten, Vestfold. The park covers and its collection of burial mounds includes, seven large mounds and one 25 small cairns. * Tune ship burial, Båthaugen, a boat burial mound found at Rolvsøy in Tune, Norway, Tune, Østfold, 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. * Avaldsnes, Storhaug (Great Mound) ship's burial mound Avaldsnes on Karmøy in Rogaland County, Norway contained a ship made of oak. * Avaldsnes, Grønhaug (Green Mound), a ship burial at Avaldsnes, contained an approximately 15-metre (49 ft) long boat with remains of a man's grave from the 10th century. * Avaldsnes, Flagghaugen (Flag Hill Mound) at Avaldsnes, 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. * 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

Tinghøj Hammershøj Kvorning 2010-01-08 edit filtered

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 in Horsens municipality, Jutland is one of Denmark's Bronze Age burial mounds built on the top of the hill. * Hov Dås in Thisted municipality, North Jutland Region, North Jutland is one of Denmark's neolithic burial mounds built on the top of the hill. * Klekkende Høj is a megalithic

constructed in the Nordic Stone Age, Stone Age on the island of Møn. It takes its name from the nearby village of Klekkende. * Lindholm Høje is a major Viking and Iron Age Scandinavia, 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, two huge burial mounds at Jelling.

North America

Canada

Human settlement in L'Anse Amour, Newfoundland and Labrador, 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 people, Mi'kmaq burial site in New Brunswick. Taber Hill 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

Ocmulgee National Monument, Funeral Mound (railroad cut on left), circa 1876 - DPLA - fd9cf4e1f3cae2a47fea5873b13fd50f

Mound building was a central feature of the public architecture of many Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native American and mesoamerican religion, 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 River, Mississippi, Tennessee River, Tennessee and Ohio River, Ohio 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 culture, Adena and the Mississippian culture, Mississippian cultures are principally known for their mounds, as is the Hopewell tradition. The largest mound site north of Mexico is Cahokia Mounds, a vast World Heritage Site located just east of St. Louis, 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 Mound, 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.

References

Sources

* * * * * Grinsell, L.V., 1936, ''The Ancient Burial-mounds of England''. London: Methuen. *

External links

*
English Heritage Monument Class Descriptions

The Victorian Barrow Diggers of Wales

Location Tumuli of Grimde Tienen

Comprehensive Database of Archaeological Site Reports in Japan

Heritage Quest
research project using LiDAR data {{Authority control Tumuli, Indo-European archaeology Indo-European religion Latin words and phrases