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An exciting discovery was made by archaeologists working for Dartmoor National Park Authority on Dartmoor earlier this month while excavating a prehistoric burial situated at over 600 metres above sea level on the north moor.
The cist, a Scheduled Monument at risk, was set within an eroding island of peat and was first discovered over 10 years ago. Attempts to prevent its further deterioration failed because of its exposed location and the excavation was crucial to help record the important fabric and content of the monument before they are totally lost. It is thought to be over a century since a burial cist on Dartmoor was excavated.
Late on Wednesday 10 August archaeologists lifted the top stones of the cist and found what appears to be part of the contents of the burial surviving above the base stone of the cist, these include bone fragments, a shale bead and organic remains. Two sharpened stakes were also found outside the cist, one lay horizontally but the other was placed vertically into the peat against one of the end stones, lying on the base stone of the cist.
The finds are now with a scientific laboratory where micro excavation of the contents will take place, followed by analysis of the various remains and radio carbon dating to establish the age of the burial. Dating and studies of pollen, plant and other biological remains preserved in the surrounding peat will also take place which should establish what the local and wider landscape was like when the cist was built.
The project is led and partly funded by Dartmoor National Park Authority with co-funding from other sources including English Heritage.
Cists are stone built chests used for the burial of cremations or inhumations, and are found in the SW and elsewhere but are rarely found with their original contents. Some 200 cists are known on Dartmoor. They may be sunk into the ground or inserted into barrows or mounds although on Dartmoor the Whitehorse Hill cist is the only known example set within a peat mound.
Source: Dartmoor NPA
http://www.dartmoor-npa.gov.uk/aboutus/news/au-_partnershipnews/prehistoric-burial-on-dartmoor-reveals-its-secrets
http://www.dartmoor-npa.gov.uk/aboutus/news/au-geninterestnews/archaeologists-investigate-dartmoor-prehistoric-burial
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