Tumuli of Seron

The Tumuli of Seron are a group of three Gallo-Roman burial mounds, among the rare surviving monuments of their kind in Wallonia. They lie within the municipality of Fernelmont, between the valley of the Mehaigne river and the higher ground of the Hesbaye plateau, close to the village of Seron.

What exactly are these mounds?

A tumulus is an earthen mound raised over a grave, meant to mark and monumentalize a burial. At Seron, three such mounds survive, labeled T1 (the southern mound), T2 (the central mound) and T3 (an isolated mound set apart to the north). T1 and T2 stand close together, separated by roughly 35 meters, while T3 sits at a greater distance from the other two. The mounds vary somewhat in size: T1 measures about 25.25 meters in diameter, T2 is the largest at around 28.30 meters, and T3 measures approximately 25.80 meters across.

Monuments of this kind were built for members of the local social elite living between the end of the 1st and the 3rd century CE, a period when the region that is now Wallonia lay within the Gallo-Roman cultural sphere. Each mound covered the burial — often accompanied by grave goods — of a single prominent individual or family.

Discovery and archaeological research

The Seron tumuli are far from a recent find. They already appear on the Ferraris maps of 1777, where they are labeled "tombes de Buhay" (the Buhay graves), showing that the local community had long recognized the mounds and attributed historical importance to them. The first significant archaeological excavation took place in 1854, uncovering numerous pieces of tableware, including glass vessels, pointing to the wealth of the person buried beneath the mound.

It would take nearly 160 years before the site received another major round of archaeological investigation. More recent excavation work revealed a dry-stone enclosure structure and a burial dated to the 3rd century CE, confirming earlier conclusions about the chronology of the site.

Heritage protection and significance

Given their rarity and good state of preservation, the Seron tumuli were granted protected heritage status in Wallonia on 24 March 1978. Their importance was recognized further on 27 May 2009, when they were designated as Exceptional Heritage of Wallonia — the region's highest level of protection, reserved for sites of outstanding historical and scientific value.

Frequently asked questions

How many tumuli are there at Seron? There are three burial mounds on the site, labeled T1, T2 and T3, of broadly similar but not identical size.

From what period do the burials date? The burials beneath the mounds date from the end of the 1st century to the 3rd century CE, the Gallo-Roman period.

When were the mounds first excavated? The first major excavation took place in 1854. The next significant archaeological research did not occur until almost 160 years later.

Are the tumuli legally protected? Yes. They have held protected heritage status in Wallonia since 1978, and since 2009 they carry the region's Exceptional Heritage designation.

Where exactly are the tumuli located? They lie in the municipality of Fernelmont, near the village of Seron, between the Mehaigne valley and the Hesbaye plateau.