tumulus
Ancient grave hill
A tumulus is an ancient burial mound—a rounded hill of earth or stones heaped over a grave or graves.
These artificial mounds dot landscapes across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, marking where prehistoric and ancient peoples interred their dead: The archaeologists excavated a Bronze Age tumulus.
Plural: tumuli or tumuluses.
Serious and worrying
- barrowLoad carrier or tumulus
- cairnMemorial stone pile
- sepulcherChamber for the dead
- intermentPutting a body underground
crypt · mausoleum · necropolis · funerary · inhumation · burial chamber · grave goods · ossuary
Heaped earth formation
- hillockMinor land elevation
- knollSmall rounded hill
- earthworkConstructed soil structure
- elevationHeight above reference point
hummock · barrow · rise · earthen · terrain · landform · prominence · burial mound
Act of unearthing
- digUnearth by shoveling
- stratigraphyStudy of rock layers
- artifactsHuman-made historical objects
- potsherdsFragments of broken ceramics
trowel · fieldwork · carbon-dating · topsoil · survey · geophysics · skeletal remains · grave goods
Thing preserving remembrance
- commemorativeHonoring past events
- markerSomething that signals location
- tributeOffering of respect
- ancestralOf one's forebears
chieftain · royal tomb · sacred site · pilgrimage · heritage · landmark · stele · inscription
grave
Serious and worrying
interment · crypt · mausoleum · necropolis · funerary · inhumation · burial chamber · grave goods · ossuary · dolmen
mound
Heaped earth formation
elevation · hummock · barrow · rise · earthen · terrain · landform · prominence · burial mound · ancient mound
excavation
Act of unearthing
- digUnearth by shoveling
- stratigraphyStudy of rock layers
- artifactsHuman-made historical objects
potsherds · trowel · fieldwork · carbon-dating · topsoil · survey · geophysics · skeletal remains · grave goods · Bronze Age
memorial
Thing preserving remembrance
- commemorativeHonoring past events
- markerSomething that signals location
- tributeOffering of respect
ancestral · chieftain · royal tomb · sacred site · pilgrimage · heritage · landmark · stele · inscription · megalithic
- funeralsfuneral, burial, cremation, casket, coffin
- ancient sitesPompeii, Stonehenge, pyramids, Colosseum, Giza
- burial sitesgrave, tomb, tombs, crypt, crypts
- gravesgravestones, headstones, gravestone, tombstones, headstone
- historic sitesruins, historic site, basilica, monument, fortress
- Moundsant mound, anthill, burial mound, cairn, dirt pile
tumulusditch
Shallow excavated channel
pit · trench · excavation · hollow · depression
tumulussky burial
Tibetan aerial interment practice
unmarked grave · catacomb · mass grave · ossuary · mausoleum