Tumulus

Alternate meanings of barrow: see Barrow-in-Furness for the town of Barrow in Cumbria, England; also Barrow, Alaska in the U.S.; also River Barrow in Ireland.

Alternate meanings of mound: see mound (creature) or Mounds for further meanings.

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 can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn.

The method of inhumation may involve a cist, a mortuary enclosure, a mortuary house or a chamber tomb. Examples of barrows include Duggleby Howe and Maes Howe.

Burial mounds were in use until the 11th century in Scandinavia. In their undamaged state they appear as small, man-made hillocks, though many examples have been damaged by ploughing or deliberately damaged so that little visible evidence remains.

In Britain, early references to tumuli were made by William Camden, John Aubrey, and William Stukeley. During the 19th century in England the excavation of tumuli was a popular pastime amongst the educated and wealthy middle 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 England.

In Japan, powerful leaders built tumuli known as kofun. The Kofun period of Japanese history takes its name from these burial mounds. The largest is over 400 meters in length. In addition to other shapes, kofun include a keyhole shape.

In the prehistoric and early historic southern and eastern United States, mound building was a central feature of the public architecture of many Native American cultures. Such 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 is believed to date back to at least 1200 years B.C.E. in the Southeast (see Poverty Point), and recent research shows that it may predate that as well. The largest construction is at the Mississippian culture site of Cahokia, a vast World Heritage Site sporting the largest earthwork north of Mexico built before the arrival of Europeans.

Types of barrows

Archaeologists often classify tumuli according to their location, form, and date of construction. Some British types are listed below:

Bank barrow
Bell barrow
Bowl barrow
D-shaped barrow A round barrow with a purposefully flat edge at one side often defined by stone slabs
Fancy barrow A generic term for any Bronze Age barrows more elaborate than a simple hemispherical shape.
Long barrow
Oval barrow A type of Neolithic long barrow consisting of an elliptical, rather than rectangular or trapezoidal mound.
Platform barrow The least common of the recognised types of round barrow, consisting of a flat, wide circular mound, which may be surrounded by a ditch. They occur widely across southern England with a marked concentration in East and West Sussex.
Pond barrow a barrow consisting of a shallow circular depression, surrounded by a bank running around the rim of the depression. Bronze age
Ring barrow a bank which encircles a number of burials.
Round barrow a circular feature created by the Bronze Age peoples of Britain and also the later Romans, Vikings and Saxons. Divided into sub classes such as saucer and bell barrow. The Six Hills are a rare Roman example.
Saucer barrow circular Bronze Age barrow featuring a low, wide mound surrounded by a ditch which may be accompanied by an external bank.
Square barrow A burial site, usually of Iron Age date, consisting of a small, square, ditched enclosure surrounding a central burial, which may also have been covered by a mound

List of notable barrow diggers

References

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

External links

English Heritage Monument Class Descriptions