Barrow

A (plural ) is a  of  and s raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as s, s or, 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.

Tumuli are often categorised according to their external apparent shape. In this respect, a long barrow is a long tumulus, usually constructed on top of several burials, such as passage graves. A round barrow is a round tumulus, also commonly constructed on top of burials. The internal structure and architecture of both long and round barrows has a broad range; the categorization only refers to the external apparent shape.

The method of may involve a dolmen, a cist, a, a , or a chamber tomb. Examples of barrows include and.

The word tumulus is for ‘mound’ or “small hill’, which is derived from the  root *teuh2- with extended zero grade *tum-, ‘to bulge, swell’ also found in tomb, tumor, tumescent, thumb, thigh, and thousand.

Types of barrows
often classify tumuli according to their location, form, and date of construction (see also ). Some British types are listed below:


 * Bank barrow
 * Bell barrow
 * Bowl barrow
 * D-shaped barrow – round barrow with a purposely flat edge at one side often defined by stone slabs.
 * Disc barrow
 * Fancy barrow – generic term for any barrows more elaborate than a simple hemispherical shape.
 * Long barrow
 * Oval barrow – a 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 that may be surrounded by a ditch. They occur widely across southern England with a marked concentration in East and West.
 * Pond barrow – a barrow consisting of a shallow circular depression, surrounded by a bank running around the rim of the depression, from the Bronze Age.
 * Ring barrow – a bank that encircles a number of burials.
 * Round barrow – a circular feature created by the peoples of Britain and also the later, Vikings, and . Divided into subclasses such as saucer and bell barrow – the  are a rare Roman example.
 * Saucer barrow – a circular Bronze Age barrow that features a low, wide mound surrounded by a ditch that may have an external bank.
 * Square barrow – burial site, usually of date, consisting of a small, square, ditched enclosure surrounding a central burial, which may also have been covered by a mound.

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