File:Cist (burial chamber) on Auchenreoch Muir - geograph.org.uk - 915099.jpg

English: Cist (burial chamber) on Auchenreoch Muir. For a look at this burial chamber in context, see 1213920; see the end-note for more information.

This cist is all that remains of a burial cairn. It would originally have been in the form of a chamber covered in stone slabs. The cist now consists of a rectangular pit measuring about 3 feet long by 2 feet wide, and about 18 inches deep, enclosed on three of its sides by flat stone slabs.

About five feet away are two stones that may be kerb stones from the original cairn.

The cist is shown here at close quarters simply because it is difficult to see from more than a few feet away.

In the book "Changing Identities / Ancient Roots - a History of West Dunbartonshire from Earliest Times" (2007; ed. Ian Brown), Simon Taylor discusses this archaeological site, and provides evidence that the remains were much more visible a few centuries ago:

"A document of 1609 mentions 'the auld monument of stane callit the Commoune-Kist', that is, 'cist of the common', which marks one of the boundaries of Dumbarton Common Grazing. This refers to the remains of a stone cist or coffin on Auchenreoch Muir, where the parishes of Bonhill, Kilmaronock and Dumbarton meet (NS432803), and is named Common Kist on the Ordnance Survey 6-inch 1st edition map (1864). It probably also gave rise to the nearby hill-name 'Hill of Standing Stanes'. The cist was part of a Bronze Age (c.2500-c.750 BC) burial cairn, still a conspicuous enough feature millennia later to function as an important boundary marker."

The author has mentioned here the possibility that this site gave the nearby Hill of Standing Stones its distinctive name; see: 992573.

As for the name Auchenreoch, the same author (in the work cited above) mentions that the first element "Auchen-" is from the Gaelic word "achadh" (primarily "field", but also "small farm", "secondary settlement"), and that, in this context, it may mean "hill-field" or "piece of ground cleared for grazing or cultivation", occurring at elevations of about 50 to 500 metres. The second element "-reoch" is said to be from the Gaelic "riabhach" ("variegated", "striped"). From personal observation, I can add that this name is most appropriate; especially when viewed from the vicinity of the summit of Pappert Hill, Auchenreoch Muir can be seen to be crossed by many stream valleys, giving it a conspicuously striped appearance; those stream valleys are discussed in a linked series of images: 1028436.