Kistvaen at Ingra Tor
Taken on 3rd August 1942 of a kistvaen at Ingra tor. A kistvaen is a stone coffin, usually pre-Christian, derived from the Celtic cist (chest) and maen(stone). Many fine examples of kistvaens are found on Dartmoor.
They often take the form of small rectangular pits about 3 ft. (0.9 m) long by 2 feet (0.6 m) wide. The kistvaens were usually covered with a mound of earth and surrounded by a circle of small stones. When a body was placed in the kistvaen, it was usually lain in a contracted position. Sometimes however the body was cremated with the ashes placed in a cinerary urn.
This kistvean is noted by Eric Hemery (High Dartmoor) as being a fine example at 4'3" long and 2'8" wide. There is a coverstone and the diameter of the former enclosing barrow is 25 feet.
Ingra Tor (339 metres) has also been recorded as Inga Tor, Inner Tor, Ingater Tor and Chip Tor.
It is now more overgrown.
