Monumental Roman tumulus found in Bavaria

"The foundations of a Roman-era burial mound with stone walls have been unearthed near Nassenfels in Upper Bavaria. Stone circular constructions like this are extremely rare finds in what was then the Roman province of Raetia. It was discovered last fall during construction work to build a stormwater retention basin near the town of Wolkertshofen. Because the site was known to have remains of settlements and burials going back to the Neolithic,"

"The excavation first only returned fragmentary remains from the Neolithic settlement, but then a circle with an outer diameter of 12 meters (39.4 feet) made of carefully arranged stones emerged. On the south side of the circle, an extension two meters (6.6 feet) square also made of stones was found. This was likely a foundation for a funerary monument, perhaps a stele, statue or altar."

"The quality of the construction, the Mediterranean style of the stone base of the walls, and the location alongside the Via Claudia Augusta, the major Roman road that crossed the Alps linking the Po valley of northern Italy to Augusta Vindelicorum (present-day Augsburg), indicates this was a burial tumulus from the Roman period. The remains of a large Roman villa rustica (country estate) were unearthed less than two miles away in 1993,"

Archaeologists unearthed the foundations of a Roman-era burial mound with stone walls near Nassenfels in Upper Bavaria during construction of a stormwater retention basin. A carefully arranged circular stone construction with an outer diameter of 12 meters was revealed, with a two-meter square stone extension on the south side that likely supported a funerary monument such as a stele, statue, or altar. The construction quality, Mediterranean-style stone base, and proximity to the Via Claudia Augusta indicate a Roman-period burial tumulus. A large Roman villa rustica was found nearby in 1993, supporting elite association. No human remains or grave goods were recovered, so the feature may represent a cenotaph memorializing someone who died elsewhere. Raetia encompassed parts of modern Switzerland, northern Italy, Austria, and southern Germany.

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