Drie Tommen

Drie Tommen, also known as the tumuli of Grimde, are three Gallo-Roman burial mounds at Grimde in the Belgian city of Tienen. They were erected in the later 2nd century as a funerary monument for Marcus Probius Burrus. The site stands along the Sint-Truidensesteenweg beside the former lordly road Boulogne-Kassel-Keulen.

Each mound has a diameter of circa 30 m and a height varying from 8 to 12,5 m, making them among the larger mounds of the area. The middle mound contained only a wooden post, possibly the foundation of a statue of Marcus Probius Burrus. Each outer mound held a wooden burial chamber. The eastern chamber contained a gold bar inscribed with Burrus’s name; the western chamber was intended for his wife and yielded a cameo and an engraved gold ring.

The mounds formed part of a funerary garden enclosed by a wall of gobertangesteen. This setting allowed relatives to gather for remembrance. A cameo from the woman’s grave shows a young man in milky-white relief on a dark red background. Although once identified as emperor Augustus, it is more likely his grandson Gaius Vipsanius Agrippa. The openwork gold ring bears the inscription CONCORDI COMMVN and may have been an engagement ring or a wedding ring.

The site was recorded in 1340 and shown on Ferrariskaarten around 1771-1778. Excavations took place in 1748, 1813 and 1892. Finds from the 1892 investigation included a gold bar inscribed MPRO BIVS BVR RVS, bronze sherds, iron, ivory, glass, ceramics, a silver vase, a circular bronze medallion, the ring and the cameo. The site and surrounding land were later transformed into a quiet public park with walking paths and a native flower meadow.

Drie Tommen is a megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones) in Tienen, Belgium. Wikidata describes it as: tumulus in Tienen, Belgium. A typological estimate: 4000 BCE to 2000 BCE. No English Wikipedia article exists for it; the full text below is the Dutch article "Drie Tommen (Tienen)", shown in the original language.