Cist Explained

In archeology, a cist (; also kist ;^{[1] [2]} from Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: κίστη, Middle Welsh Kist or Germanic Kiste) 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.^{[3] [4] [5] [6]} 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 Swedish: kista|italic= yes in Swedish and Danish: kiste|italic= yes in Danish and Norwegian, where it is the word for a funerary coffin.^{[7] [8] [9]} In English the term is related to cistern^[10] and to chest.

Regional examples

Sri Lanka

• Bellanbedipalassa
• Pothana
• Ibbankatuwa Megalithic Stones
• Udaranchamadama

England

• Bellever Forest, Dartmoor
• Hepburn woods, Northumberland

Estonia

• Jõelähtme (Rebala) stone-cist graves, Harju County

Latvia

• Batariņi^[11]

Guatemala

• Mundo Perdido, Tikal, Petén Department

Israel

• Tel Kabri (Area A), Upper Galilee

Scotland

• Balblair cist, Beauly, Inverness
• Dunan Aula, Craignish, Argyll and Bute
• Holm Mains Farm, Inverness
• Nether Mill, Kilbirnie, North Ayrshire

See also

• Kistvaen
• Dartmoor kistvaens
• Stone box grave

External links

• Pretanic World - Chart of Neolithic, Bronze Age and Celtic Stone Structures

Notes and References

1. Book: Houghton Mifflin . Houghton Mifflin . The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language . 4th . Houghton Mifflin . 2000 . Boston and New York . 339 . 978-0-395-82517-4 . registration .
2. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com Merriam-Webster Unabridged
3. Web site: A Cist Burial in Jordan.
4. Burials in Ancient Palestine: From the Stone Age to Abraham . 3210997 . Callaway . Joseph A. . The Biblical Archaeologist . 1963 . 26 . 3 . 74–91 . 10.2307/3210997 . 165441707.
5. Web site: The Early Minoan Period: The Tombs . 2008-03-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080323104956/http://projectsx.dartmouth.edu/history/bronze_age/lessons/les/6.html . 2008-03-23 . dead .
6. Web site: Excavation of Cist in Bologna, Italy.
10. cistern
11. Web site: Grīviņš . Valters . 2017 . Vidzemes arheoloģiskās apbedījumu vietas . Historia.lv.