In archeology, a cist (; also kist ;Merriam-Webster Unabridged (MWU). (Online subscription-based reference service of Merriam-Webster, based on Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002.) Headword cist. Accessed 2007-12-11. ultimately from ; cognate to ) or cist grave is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. In some ways, it is similar to the deeper shaft tomb. Examples occur across Europe and in the Middle East. A cist may have formerly been associated with other monuments, perhaps under a cairn or a long barrow. Several cists are sometimes found close together within the same cairn or barrow. Often ornaments have been found within an excavated cist, indicating the wealth or prominence of the interred individual.
This old word is preserved in the Nordic languages as in Swedish and in Danish and Norwegian, as well as in Dutch (), where it is the word for a funerary coffin.:sv:likkista:da:ligkiste:no:kiste In English the term is related to cisterncistern and to chest.
Regional examples
England Teffont Evias, EnglandRoman Cist Found At Teffont Quarry. Date: 1950s Location: Teffont, Wiltshire. Reference: P35140. Type: Photograph (Print) https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/item/P35140 Date: 1940. Location: Teffont, Wiltshire. Reference: P35139. Type: Photograph (Print) https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/item/P35139
Estonia Jõelähtme (Rebala) stone-cist graves, Harju County
Guatemala Mundo Perdido, Tikal, Petén Department
Ireland Knockmaree Dolmen, Phoenix Park, Dublin
Israel Tel Kabri (Area A), Upper Galilee
Latvia Batariņi
Scotland Balblair cist, Beauly, Inverness Dunan Aula, Craignish, Argyll and Bute Holm Mains Farm, Inverness Nether Mill, Kilbirnie, North Ayrshire
Sri Lanka Ibbankatuwa Megalithic Stones Udaranchamadama
See also Kistvaen Dartmoor kistvaens Stone box grave
References
External links
Pretanic World - Chart of Neolithic, Bronze Age and Celtic Stone Structures