Cist

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Kistvaen on the southern edge of Dartmoor in Drizzlecombe (England) showing the capstone and the inner cist structure.

Cist

In archeology, a cist (Template:IPAc-en; also kist Template:IPAc-en;<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>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.</ref> ultimately from Template:Langx; cognate to Template:Langx) 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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 Template:Lang in Swedish and Template:Lang in Danish and Norwegian, where it is the word for a funerary coffin.<ref>sv:likkista</ref><ref>da:ligkiste</ref><ref>no:kiste</ref> In English the term is related to cistern<ref>cistern</ref> and to chest.

Regional examples

File:StoneCistGraves.jpg

Stone cist graves from a Bronze Age site in Northern Estonia

File:Rebala kivikalmed 2021.ogv

Drone video of stone cist graves in Jõelähtme, Estonia

England

Teffont Evias, England<ref>Roman Cist Found At Teffont Quarry. Date: 1950s Location: Teffont, Wiltshire. Reference: P35140. Type: Photograph (Print) https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/item/P35140</ref><ref> Date: 1940. Location: Teffont, Wiltshire. Reference: P35139. Type: Photograph (Print) https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/item/P35139</ref>