cist

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cist¹

(sĭst)

A wicker receptacle used in ancient Rome for carrying sacred utensils in a procession.

[Latin cista, from Greek kistē.]

cist²

(sĭst, kĭst) also kist (kĭst)

A stone-lined grave, especially a tomb consisting of a pit lined with stones and often having a lid of stone or wood.

[Short for Welsh cist faen, stone chest : cist, chest (ultimately from Latin cista, box; see cist¹) + maen, stone.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

cist

(sɪst)

(Historical Terms) a wooden box for holding ritual objects used in ancient Rome and Greece

[C19: from Latin cista box, chest, basket, from Greek kistē]

cist

(sɪst) or

kist

(Archaeology) archaeol a box-shaped burial chamber made from stone slabs or a hollowed tree trunk

[C19: from Welsh: chest, from Latin cista box; see cist¹]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

cist

(sɪst, kɪst)

also kist

a prehistoric sepulchral tomb or casket.

[1795–1805; < Welsh < Latin cista < Greek kístē chest]

cist′ed, adj.

cist

A Neolithic tomb made of stone slabs.

References in periodicals archive ?

Experts believe the three oval flagstone cists may have belonged to a wealthy family.

Historic find at quarry site

The dig revealed evidence of what may have been an early prehistoric tsunami event, burial cists and an Iron Age house rebuilt in Roman times.

Goddess sees the light after nearly 2,000 years

To improve the situation, bone samples for AMS dating were selected from several stone-cist graves from which the human osteological assemblage had undergone sex and age determination and which contained burials both in the cists (assumed to date from the Late Bronze or Early Pre-Roman Iron Age) and outside cists (assumed to date from later periods).

Stone-cist grave at Kasekula, western Estonia, in the light of AMS dates of the human bones/Kasekula kivikirstkalme Laane-Eestis AMS-dateeringute valguses

Already half of the burial cairn has been lost to the sea over recent decades, revealing three stone-lined burial chambers , or cists, and the remains of eight Bronze Age people.

Race to record Bronze Age site before waves reclaim it

Since the 1980s Bronze Age stone-lined burial pits, called cists, have been exposed lodged in the cliff-side at Low Hauxley on Druridge Bay as the shoreline gradually erodes.

Bid to save Bronze Age burial ground; Project to stop cemetery's fall into the sea

At White Rock, the society plans to build another home alongside ancient cists - Bronze Age burial sites marked with stone mounds, or cairns.

Harbouring town's future; New homes would ensure survival

Ten years later, two cists - or stone burial chambers - were revealed in the same area, and two highly decorated Bronze Age pottery beakers were found.

Tides turn up child's Bronze Age remains; Race against time as erosion threatens our archaeological sites

The cairn consists of five cists ( chambers made up of stone slabs into which were placed burials or cremations, and sometimes grave goods.

3,000 years as a wild spiritual home

This exposed human burials in cists, or stone-lined graves.

Secrets uncovered by the mountainous waves

Some Bronze Age artifacts have already been discovered there, and burial cists are on display at the nearby Druridge Bay Country Park visitor centre.

Skeletons find at least 100 years old

Bronze Age artifacts have been found there and burial cists are on display at nearby Druridge Bay Country Park visitor centre.

Bones may be rare ancient burial

"It was a great discovery, these cists are essentially time capsules.

Prized 'iPhone of the Bronze Age' found in ancient grave under British pub; Builders working behind the Tankerville Arms Hotel in Wooler, Northumberland, discovered the flint knife, which archaeologists say was extremely valuable between 3200--600 BC