Ancient Roman Tumulus Discovered in Bavaria

Archaeologists has just uncovered an extremely rare and massive Roman circular monument in Upper Bavaria, shedding new light on Raetia, an ancient Roman province in southern Germany.

The Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation recently announced "a particularly remarkable find," the base of a Roman tumulus off an ancient Roman road near Wolkertshofen, in the district of Eichstätt.

Burial mounds belong to the Roman tradition, but archaeologists discussed how rare it was to find one in the region. However, Ancient Origins noted that they appeared in Raetia from the 1st century onward.

"Discovering a burial monument of this scale and period here was entirely unexpected," said Prof. Mathias Pfeil, General Conservator of the BLfD, to Ancient Origins.

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.

As per a press release, construction work began in the fall of 2024 to build a stormwater retention basin in the northeast of Wolkertshofen. As the site boasts a long history with settlements dating back to the Bronze and Iron Ages, it necessitated archaeological supervision.

However, once the remains of a massive circular stone foundation came to light, over 29 feet wide, archaeologists were admittedly astonished. On the south side, they uncovered a square extension measuring 6.65 feet by 6.56 feet, which they assume served as a foundation for a statue or stele.

The quality of its construction was notably superior, and the overall appearance of the tumulus signaled to archaeologists that they stumbled upon a stone circle that formed the peripheral wall of a funerary monument.

Ancient Origins continues that archaeologists expected to find human remains or grave goods, the absence of which communicated to researchers that the site was a cenotaph, a symbolic grave for someone who was laid to rest elsewhere.

Often, these monuments, when empty, represent an affluent family aiming to communicate its status in Roman society. Its extraordinary size, even, reflects that objective while simultaneously honoring and remembering a deceased member of the family who may have died far away from home, as per Archaeology News.

And behold, the monument was situated on a Roman road near "villa rustica," a Roman country estate, possibly suggesting a connection, though archaeologists didn’t explicitly state that. Only that, its location on a main road, would indicate that it was meant to be seen.

The press release continued that several Roman burial sites are known in the Augsburg area. Still, tumuli with stone ring walls, and specifically of this size, are "extremely rare to find in the province of Raetia," making the discovery distinguishably significant in advancing research into Bavaria under Roman rule.