Mastershausen - Tonhügel

Near Reidenhausen, in the middle of the forest, situated atop a flat knoll, about 100 metres apart stand two large tumuli.
The northern barrow, which is only 1 m high, has a diameter of 35 m. The southern barrow, with a diameter of 25 m and a height of 4 m, is particularly impressive.
Despite the burrowings of badgers within the barrow there are still traces of the 1888 excavation.  
Circular ditches were dug and the excavated soil was heaped up to form the mound. In the centre, on the original ground, was the burial place.  
The 1888 excavation hit upon stone containers in which, along with the cremated remains of the dead, were also found funeral gifts, which included remarkable glass jars dating from the 2nd century A.D.
According to the Roman view it was through cremation that the deceased regained their purity.  Afterwards the cremated remains were picked from the funeral pyre and interred within the barrow.
In Roman antiquity there were generally two types of burial:  the cremation of the body and burial of the ashes  – and the burial of the body -  the inhumation; which prevailed in the 4th century. Wealthy landowners had stone coffins – or sarcophagi – made.
In the courtyard of the abbey in Engelport , which lies on the road towards Treis on the Moselle, it is possible to see a late Roman basalt  sarcophagus.
The location of the two large tumuli near Reidenausen was well chosen so as to be clearly visible to travellers passing along the Roman road approximately 200 m away.
The street led from the Hunsrück heights and the Roman settlement near Kirchberg (the antique Dumnissus) down to the Moselle passing the Roman settlement near Mittelstrimming.
The Celtic Trail, a modern and well signposted hiking route, running from the Lahn River, through the Soonwald and across the Hunsruck towards the Moselle follows the old Roman (and Celtic) paths.  
According to eye-witness-accounts, as late as 1892, Roman graves were to be found ‘in large quantities to the left and right of the Roman street’ on the Thonhügel.
Along the Roman roads and paths large tumuli are found again and again. One is the Johannishügel tumulus which stands beside Ausonius-Street leading over the Hunsrück and which  today  lies in the vicinity of the  B50.
The site of the Roman estate, which belonged to those buried under the large tumuli has not yet been determined.
The picture we have of rural settlement in Roman times is characterized by detached estates – manors of extensive landholding – and the  settlements on the roads.
During the 2nd and 3rd century the lands furthest from the Roman border regions were settled with thousands of estates. Like today’s isolated farms they were situated in the middle of their fields and pastures.  
How the buildings were furnished varied considerably depending on the standing of the owner. With mosaic flooring, mural paintings, marble cladding and other luxuries across several rooms, people tried to imitate the splendour of the manorial houses of the larger estates.

[Martin Thoma]