Inarcheology, acist (/ˈkɪst/; alsokist/ˈkɪst/;[1][2]ultimately fromAncient Greek:κίστη; cognate to English:chest) orcist grave is a small stone-built coffin-like box orossuary used to hold thebodies of the dead. In some ways, it is similar to the deepershaft 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 acairn or a longbarrow. 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 askista in Swedish andkiste in Danish and Norwegian, as well as in Dutch (kist), where it is the word for afunerary coffin.[7][8][9] In English the term is related tocistern[10] and tochest.
