Cist

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Cist
Cist
For the Mediterranean flower, see Cistaceae.

A cist (pronounced /ˈkɪst/ or /ˈsɪst/) or kist (/ˈkɪst/)[1] [2] is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead, and examples of which can be found all over the world. [3][4][5][6] A cist may have been associated with other monuments, perhaps under a cairn or long barrow. It would not be uncommon to find several cists close together within the same cairn or barrow. Occasionally, ornaments have been found within a cist under excavation, which could indicate the wealth of the interred individual.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Houghton Mifflin (2000). The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed, Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, page 339. ISBN 978-0-395-82517-4. 
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ http://www.calvin.edu/academic/archaeology/uj/publicat/reports/cheney.htm A Cist Burial in Jordan
  4. ^ http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0006-0895(196309)26%3A3%3C73%3ABIAPFT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-X Burials in Ancient Palestine: From the Stone Age to Abraham
  5. ^ http://projectsx.dartmouth.edu/history/bronze_age/lessons/les/6.html The Early Minoan Period: The Tombs
  6. ^ http://www.wollamshram.ca/1001/Bologna/bologna_appen.htm Excavation of Cist in Bologna, Italy

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