Among the local traditions of Central Tibet one finds different classifications of the tumuli. They are often seen as the remains of former buildings and described in terms similar to other ruined or abandoned sites (khang shul; mkhar shul) sometimes detailed as the seat of a former ruler or also as a place related to a former “city.” A more common perception is to see the tumuli simply as “heaps of earth” (sa phung) , without any specification, except that they are recognised as the preferred dwellings of the marmots or rabbits (Fig. 4a, b). Such profane contexts allow the locals to make use of the buildings, with the taking of the tombs’ stones for house construction etc. being here most common (Fig. 1). In the alpine zones, the larger mounds often serve as temporary resting place of the shepherds, or the sinkholes on top of the mounds – indications of earlier openings – are adapted as permanent campsites (’brog sa) , or also as shelter for grazing animals (Fig. 3). In the vicinity of a village, on the other hand, the tombs are also used as deposits for the domestic waste (Fig. 5).

At the same time, there are quite a few instances where the tombs appear still as part of the older (folk-)religious classifications: They are “houses of demons” ('dre khang; in some cases apparently related to the Tibetan ro langs (or “rising corpse”) phenomenon; see e.g. Walter 2002), abodes of local gods, or larger tumuli serve as place for the yul lha khang (shrine of the territorial god; Fig. 6); elsewhere tombs are classified as “earth stupa” (sa’i ’bum pa; Fig. 2) or “earth mandala” (sa dkyil ’khor) and accordingly decorated with signs of religious worship. Finally, there are not least historical identifications; aside from the stereotypical picture of being cemeteries (dur sa)  related to Mongol invasions (often the early 18th-cent. Dzungar invasion is mentioned in this context), in several cases the burial ground sare linked to the memory, according to which they represent the final resting place of a “general”, “minister” or even member of a certain family or clan from the imperial period. In such circumstances the tumuli are usually given by the accurate historical terms of bang so or mchad (mchad kha/pa).