What is recorded here

Cist in Dunbell Big holds a well-built chamber sealed with two capstones, preserving an intact Food Vessel surrounded by burnt bone beneath reddish loam. It may date from 2000 to 1500 BC, slightly newer than a crushed vessel found beside it. An early medieval house later rose above the burial, tying generations of life to the same ground.

Between September 1990 and January 1991 remote sensing and trial trenching was carried out at a ringfort (KK024-010001-) in Dunbell Big (Cassidy 1990, 38-9; Cassidy 1991, 18-20). A pit-burial (KK024-010005-) with crushed food vessel was uncovered 0.4m to the N of the cist burial, under the foundations of an early medieval house (KK024-010006-) (ibid.). The cist burial is described by Cassidy (1991, 20) as being, ‘contained in a well-built cist sealed with two capstones. The cist fill was mainly a reddish loam and lying at its base was an intact Food Vessel containing and surrounded by burnt bone. This Food Vessel may belong to a slightly more recent era than the crushed one and had relatively simple incised decoration’, suggesting a date range of 2000-1500 BC. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 9 November 2021

A cist burial, likely dating to the Early Christian period, associated with a ringfort; its significance lies in the rare preservation of burial practices in a rural settlement context.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.