pit grave

noun

, Archaeology.

1. a shallow grave hollowed out of a bed of rock or the floor of a tholos.

Word History and Origins

Origin of pit grave¹

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

One was an adult Neolithic woman buried between 3343 and 3020 B.C.E. in a tomb topped with huge stones near Belfast; the other three were men buried in a pit grave on an island off the coast of Northern Ireland between about 2000 and 1500 B.C.E.

From Science Magazine

“There’s so much variation in how they are positioned,” she said, “between whether they are cremated or buried; whether they are within a tomb, or a chamber, or a cist or a pit grave; whether they are placed face down or face up.”

From New York Times