SEPULCHRAL REMAINS--CISTS--THE CROMLECH--KERNANSTOWN--LABBACALLEE-- MONASTERBOICE--GREENMOUNT--CROMLECH OF THE FOUR MAOLS--BLACK LION--LEGANANNY--BALLYMASCANLAN--PHŒNIX PARK CISTS--HOWTH-- KILTERNAN--MOUNT VENUS--SHANGANAGH--BRENNANSTOWN (GLEN DRUID)-- GLENSOUTHWELL--GLENCULLEN BALLYEDMOND--SHANKILL--KNOCKMANY-- CLOGHTOGH--SLIEVEMORE--LENNAN--CASTLEDERG. It is now admitted by all competent authorities that the works scattered throughout Ireland, varying from the rude structures known as cromlechs and the gigantic chambered cairns, like those of Newgrange and Dowth, down to the simplest cist, alike varieties of the cromlech idea, are graves of a primitive people. But we may go a step further than this. It is perfectly evident that the people who erected the cromlechs and tumuli were far more solicitous about the abodes of the dead than they were regarding their own dwellings, built as these were of wood and wattles, covered with turf and earth, and subject to ready decay. ‘On the other hand,’ as Dr. Munro well says, ‘the tomb was constructed of the most durable materials, and placed on an eminence, so as to be seen from afar, and to be a lasting memorial among succeeding generations.’[25] Towards the close of the Stone Age the custom of burning the bodies of the dead was practised by the inhabitants of the British Isles. The dead were also disposed of by ordinary burial, by placing the body in either a horizontal, sitting, or perpendicular position. Both methods were practised throughout the whole succeeding archæological period, or Bronze Age, as numerous remains testify. When cremated, the calcined remains were placed in an urn, and then deposited, often with a small food-vessel, within an artificial chamber. This is called a _Cist_, or _Kistvaen_, and is usually a small rectangular chamber made of flags or rude stones. Over these chambers it was often customary to raise a cairn of stones or earthen mound. The cist has, however, been frequently found in open fields and other unexpected places. Cinerary urns, too, have been found within an area of stone circles, in tumuli not many feet from the surface, and in mounds that in their centre contained other, and probably more ancient, burial deposits.