Dartmoor | |
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Location | Devon, England, United Kingdom |
Coordinates | 50°34′N 4°0′W / 50.567°N 4.000°W |
Area | 954 km2 (368 sq mi) |
Established | 1951 |
Visitors | 10.98m |
Governing body | Dartmoor National Park Authority |
Website | www |
Dartmoor kistvaens are burial tombs or cists from the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age, i.e. from c. 2500 BC to c. 1500 BC.[1] Kistvaens have been found in many places, including Dartmoor, a 954 km2 (368 square miles) area of moorland in south Devon, England. The box-like stone tombs were created when the ancient people of the area lived in hut circles. Cists are often to be found in the centre of a cairn circle although some appear solitary which could be the result of the loss of an original slight mound.[2] There are over 180[3] known cists on Dartmoor although there could be up to 100 that remain buried underneath unexplored cairns.[4] In the South West there are no cists to be found on the Quantock Hills, only 2 to be found on Exmoor and 58 to be found on Bodmin Moor.[3] The Dartmoor cists are unique in that about 94% have the longer axis of the tomb orientated in a NW/SE direction[5][6] It appears that Dartmoor cists were positioned in such a way that the deceased were facing the Sun.[7]
In August 2011 an untouched cist, on Whitehorse Hill, near Chagford, was the first to be excavated on the moor for over 100 years.[8] This burial yielded some rare Bronze Age artefacts made of organic materials.[9]
The Reliquary & illustrated archæologist
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).