A tumulus (plural tumuli or tumuluses) 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. [image]
By burning the deceased, he was moved to Valhalla by the consuming force of the fire. The fire could reach temperatures of 1500 °C. The remains were covered with cobblestones and then a layer of gravel and sand and finally a thin layer of turf.
[image] As the old Scandinavians worshiped their ancestors, the mounds were also places of worship.
Of note is King Björn's barrow in Håga (Old Norse name: Haug) near Uppsala. This location has a very strong connection with Björn at Haugi. First, the Nordic Bronze Age barrow gave its name to the location Håga ("the barrow"), which became part of the cognomen of the king, at Haugi ("at the barrow"), and interestingly, the mound was later named after the king.
The word Kurgan is of Turkicn origin borrowed from Russian language. In the north, there are royal kurgans of Varangian chieftains, such as the Black Grave in Chernigov (excavated in the 19th century), Oleg's Grave in Staraya Ladoga, and vast, intricate Rurik's Hill near Rurikovo gorodische. Other important kurgans are found in South Russia and are associated with much more ancient Steppe peoples, notably the Scythians (e.g., Pazyryk) and Proto-Indo-Europeans (e.g., Ipatovo) The steppe cultures found in South Russia naturally continue into Central Asia, in particular Kazakhstan.
Near the western city limits of modern Jerusalem in Israel, 19 tumuli have been documented (Amiran, 1958). Though first noticed in the 1870s by early surveyors, the first one to be formally documented was Tumulus #2 in 1923 by William Foxwell Albright, and the most recent one (Tumulus #4) was excavated by Gabriel Barkay in 1983. Since 21 kings reigned in Jerusalem during the Israelite monarchy from David to Zedekiah (who was conquered and humiliated by the Chaldean king, Nebuchadnezzar), it is not unreasonable to suspect that these mounds were the locations of ceremonies to mourn/honor them after they had already received proper burial in the royal tombs (probably located in the heart of the city where they could be continuously guarded). See 2 Chronicles 16:14, 21:19 (which states that King Jehoram was not given this honor), 32:33, the Book of Jeremiah 34:5 (a conditional promise for Zedekiah that he did not earn), and Biblical archaeology. Gabriel Barkay popularized this theory after studying tumuli near Salamis in Cyprus. More than half of these ancient Israeli structures have now been threatened or obliterated by modern construction projects, including Tumulus #4, which was excavated hastily in a salvage operation. The most noteworthy finds from this dig were two LMLK seal impressions and two other handles with associated Concentric Circle incisions, all of which suggests this tumulus belonged to either King Hezekiah (Barkay, 2003, p. 68) or his son Manasseh (Grena, 2004, p. 326).
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.
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 unburnt 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 unburnt corpses; however, the reason for such change is unknown. The barrows date too much back to history (700 AD to 800 AD) to contain any Christian influences - it is almost certain that all people buried in them were Pagans.
As Czech barrows usually served for burials of poor villagers, only a few objects are found in them except for cheap potestry. Only one Slavic barrow is known to have contained gold.
Most of the burial barrows in Czechia have been damaged or destroyed by intense Agriculture in the densely populated region. Those which remain are usually located in forests, especially at hilltops in remote places. Therefore there is no general knowledge about burial barrows in Czech population.
The best Slavic barrow sites can be found near to Vitín, a small village close to České Budějovice (also known as Budweis). 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 meters high.
There are also some prehistoric burial barrows in Czechia, 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.
}}>??2}}}
}}
|??Author|}}} }}??2
}}
}}??2}}}} |. }} Interesting finds in tumuli near Jerusalem
}}
}}>}}}
}}
|??Author|}}} }}
}}
}}}}}} |. }} The tumuli west of Jerusalem, Survey and Excavations, 1953
}}
}}>}}}
}}
|??Author|}}} }}
}}
}}}}}} |. }} Mounds of mystery: where the kings of Judah were lamented
}}
}}>}}}}}|??Author|}}} }}
}}
}}}}}} |. }} LMLK--A Mystery Belonging to the King vol. 1.
}}