nounplural noun tumuli/ˈtjuːmjʊlʌɪ/ /ˈtjuːmjʊliː/

• An ancient burial mound; a barrow.

  ‘Farmer Bob Frearson is in the process of putting up fences to prevent 4x4 drivers getting on to his land and using ancient burial mounds, or tumuli, as an off-road assault course.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The tumuli, or ancient burial mounds, are obvious enough and we have always been able to work around them.’
  • ‘At first cremation was the rule, as were flat or low graves, though later the tumulus or raised barrow became standard.’
  • ‘It is constructed to resemble an ancient burial mound, called a tumulus, sitting atop a ridge and overlooking the Magaliesberg mountains.’
  • ‘Silbury-Hill, the largest tumulus or artificial mound of earth in this kingdom was begun to be opened by the miners of Mendip, on Thursday last.’
  • ‘Everywhere you go in Ireland there are standing stones, circles, cromlechs and tumuli; some of huge size.’
  • ‘This giant Neolithic tumulus near Avebury, the largest man-made prehistoric mound in Europe, has been a source of observation, speculation and wishful thinking for hundreds if not thousands of years.’
  • ‘It was a ruin in the making, and my friends and I were camped out amid its potsherds and tumuli.’
  • ‘In Folkestone, a pillbox was built into a Bronze Age tumulus.’
  • ‘About two miles east of Samarra, rises the Tomb of Julius, a huge tumulus about 200 feet high, rising from the level plain.’
  • ‘Three years later, smugglers found more artifacts in the tombs at Ikiztepe and Aktepe tumuli.’
  • ‘A walkway will lead to the entrance into the tumulus, an exploration area involving a boat ride on an underground lake that will explore the different forms of water.’
  • ‘The entrance was located at the center of the tumulus.’
  • ‘His bent knees fit perfectly inside the slight curve of the tumulus, and we covered him with more flat stones.’
  • ‘Inch Castle is about three miles from Athy, and adjoining it is a small tumulus, of which the following story is told.’
  • ‘The cup was discovered in 1917 in Turkey, within an amphora at the foot of an early Bronze Age tumulus.’
  • ‘Unlike the terracotta soldiers protecting the emperor's tumulus, the identity and purpose of the standing figure is still a mystery to scholars.’

  Synonyms

  slope, rise, incline, gradient, ramp, acclivity, tump