Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tumulus
Cave art in this area is often used as another marker of the exceptional nature of hominids, and this discovery added another element to knowledge of early burials: the use of stones carried from elsewhere to build a tumulus over the body.
—
Literary Hub, 31 Oct. 2025
The circular stone ruins stretched about 40 feet across and matched the general design of a Roman burial mound, or tumulus, archaeologists said.
—Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 24 Oct. 2025
Interestingly enough, the tumulus represents a meeting of Roman and Celtic traditions, though, by the looks of it, this funerary monument, possibly attached to a stately though unknown elite, was a symbolic gesture, piquing intrigue and revealing a slice of Roman life rarely seen.
—Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 19 Oct. 2025
Objects inside the tumulus included a number of relics associated with royal banquets such as bronze cauldrons, jugs, and bowls, as well as additional iron tools.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 12 June 2025
Melena flags a hand limply at her older daughter as Nanny hoists Nessa onto the edge of the cot, where the girl lies, inert and cringing, in the lee of the tumulus that Melena has become.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 5 Mar. 2025
Nearby, the researchers found a 197- by 26-foot tumulus, or burial mound, and an extravagant array of Greek funerary goods likely left by merchants and mercenaries living in the area.
—Isis Davis-Marks, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Aug. 2021
Another surprising discovery is a giant tumulus near the town of Amphipolis in northern Greece.
—National Geographic, 8 Apr. 2019
Literary Hub, 31 Oct. 2025
The circular stone ruins stretched about 40 feet across and matched the general design of a Roman burial mound, or tumulus, archaeologists said.
—Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 24 Oct. 2025
Interestingly enough, the tumulus represents a meeting of Roman and Celtic traditions, though, by the looks of it, this funerary monument, possibly attached to a stately though unknown elite, was a symbolic gesture, piquing intrigue and revealing a slice of Roman life rarely seen.
—Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 19 Oct. 2025
Objects inside the tumulus included a number of relics associated with royal banquets such as bronze cauldrons, jugs, and bowls, as well as additional iron tools.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 12 June 2025
Melena flags a hand limply at her older daughter as Nanny hoists Nessa onto the edge of the cot, where the girl lies, inert and cringing, in the lee of the tumulus that Melena has become.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 5 Mar. 2025
Nearby, the researchers found a 197- by 26-foot tumulus, or burial mound, and an extravagant array of Greek funerary goods likely left by merchants and mercenaries living in the area.
—Isis Davis-Marks, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Aug. 2021
Another surprising discovery is a giant tumulus near the town of Amphipolis in northern Greece.
—National Geographic, 8 Apr. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tumulus
Noun
-
Willerslev and other researchers looked for traces of plague-causing bacteria in remains from four cemeteries near Siberia's Lake Baikal.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
17 June 2026
-
The region was rich in resources, including waters for fishing, and the cemeteries show that the hunter-gatherers buried their dead nearby for generations — perhaps to claim the region for themselves, Macleod said.—
Ashley Strickland,
CNN Money,
17 June 2026
Noun
-
Near the town of Sanquhar, a southwestern Scottish community nestled in verdant countryside, researchers stumbled upon a Bronze Age barrow—the first find of its kind in the area.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
21 Dec. 2025
-
The landscape also offers up eighteenth-century farmhouses, lairds’ castles, Norse churches, Iron Age forts, and Bronze Age barrows alongside the Neolithic tombs, settlements, and standing stones—thousands of sites altogether, across twenty-odd inhabited islands.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
24 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The road wound upwards, past a sloping graveyard and cedar trees.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 June 2026
-
These graveyards form when whale carcasses fall to the sea floor, becoming a sustaining snack for nearby critters.—
Adithi Ramakrishnan,
Los Angeles Times,
14 June 2026
Noun
-
Martín Pérez was on the mound for the home team, a soft-tossing veteran lefty who was pumping in 89-mph sinkers.—
Chad Bishop,
AJC.com,
20 June 2026
-
Edwin Díaz throwing off mound Closer Edwin Díaz (elbow surgery) has progressed to throwing off the mound.—
Maddie Lee,
Los Angeles Times,
20 June 2026
Noun
-
In Wuthering Heights, both Catherine and Heathcliff die in part by willing themselves into the grave—so much so there is worry that they won’t be allowed burial in the churchyard.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 May 2026
-
Only days before, Al-Rahi had stood in the very churchyard where the crowd assembled Wednesday for his funeral.—
Nabih Bulos,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tumulus.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tumulus. Accessed 25 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
