A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or kurgans, and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built for various purposes, may also originally have been a tumulus.
Tomb of King Alyattes at Bin Tepe in Lydia, modern Turkey, built c. 560 BC. It is one of the largest tumuli ever built, with a diameter of 360 meters and a height of 61 meters.
The Royal Mounds of Gamla Uppsala in Sweden from the 5th and 6th centuries. Originally, the site had 2,000 to 3,000 tumuli, but due to quarrying and agriculture only 250 remain.
La Cambe German war cemetery
One of the Hallstatt culture–era tumuli in the Sulm valley necropolis
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 elevation on any surface. Artificial mounds have been created for a variety of reasons throughout history, including habitation, ceremonial, burial (tumulus), and commemorative purposes.
Grave Creek Mound, in Moundsville, West Virginia
Kościuszko Mound, Kraków, Poland
General view of the excavations in January 1889 at Kankali Tila, Mathura
Mound known as Structure 101 located at the Yarumela archeological site in Honduras.
