kistvaen

English

Alternative forms

• cistvaen

Etymology

From Welsh cistfaen, from cist (“chest”) + maen (“stone”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɪstvaɪn/

Noun

kistvaen (plural kistvaens)

1. (archaeology) A stone coffin in the form of a pit covered with earth and surrounded by stones.
   • 1913, Arthur L. Salmon, Dartmoor‎^[1]:

     It was man of the New Stone Age who first peopled this upland, leaving remains of his hut-dwellings, his pounds, dolmens, and menhirs, his kistvaens and his cooking-holes.

Related terms

• cist