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The Lesser Cursus
The Stonehenge Cursus (sometimes known as the Greater Cursus) is a large Neolithic cursus monument on Salisbury plain, near to Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England. It is roughly long and between and wide. Excavations in 2007 dated the construction of the earthwork to between 3630 and 3375 BCE, several hundred years before the earliest phase of Stonehenge in 3000 BC. The cursus, along with adjacent barrows and the nearby 'Lesser Cursus' are part of the National Trust's Stonehenge Landscape property, and is within the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site. Etymology Cursus comes from the Latin for 'racecourse'. Early antiquarians who first discovered cursuses believed them to be Roman racing tracks. Context Radiocarbon dating of a red deer antler pick discovered at the bottom of the western terminal ditch suggests that the Stonehenge Cursus was first constructed between 3630 and 3375 BCE. It is just under 3 km long, and is roughly 100 m wide. Because o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stonehenge, Avebury And Associated Sites
Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) in Wiltshire, England. The WHS covers two large areas of land separated by about , rather than a specific monument or building. The sites were inscribed as co-listings in 1986. Some large and well known monuments within the WHS are listed below, but the area also has an exceptionally high density of small-scale archaeological sites, particularly from the prehistoric period. More than 700 individual archaeological features have been identified. There are 160 separate scheduled monuments, covering 415 items or features. Stonehenge and associated monuments The Stonehenge area of the WHS is in south Wiltshire. It covers an area of 26 square km and is centred on the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge. Ownership is shared between English Heritage, the National Trust, the Ministry of Defence, the RSPB, Wiltshire Council, and private individuals and farmers. Monuments in the Stonehenge WHS *Stonehenge * St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cursus (classical)
The Latin word 'cursus' can be generally translated into English as 'course'. The word derives from ''currere'', to run. It may be applied, for example, to a course of study, of medical treatment, or to a race-course. A well known instance is the ''cursus honorum'' - a ladder of political offices. Roman race-course At its simplest, the Roman race-course took the form of two posts; each called a ''discrimen'' or a ''meta'', round which the runners, whether on foot, on horses or in chariots, raced. The normal arrangement was more formalised as two straights, separated by a ''spina'' but very close to each other and with a very tight turn at each turning point. It was the similarity in appearance of this Roman ''cursus'' to the Neolithic archaeological feature which led 18th century antiquarians to use the same name for the latter. This combination of straight and tight turn combined the thrills of speed on the straights with those of danger as collisions and falls were likely on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Colt Hoare
Sir Richard Colt Hoare, 2nd Baronet (9 December 1758 – 19 May 1838) was an English antiquarian, archaeologist, artist, and traveller of the 18th and 19th centuries, the first major figure in the detailed study of the history of his home county of Wiltshire. Career and personal life Hoare was born in Barnes, Surrey, and was descended from Sir Richard Hoare, Lord Mayor of London, the founder of the family banking business, Hoare's Bank. His parents were Sir Richard Hoare, 1st Baronet (1735–1787) and Anne Hoare (1737–1759). He was educated at preparatory school at Mr. Devis's school, Wandsworth, and afterwards at Samuel Glasse's school at Greenford, and was taught the Classics by the Rev. Joseph Eyre. In 1783 Hoare married Hester, daughter of William Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton. In 1785 he inherited the large Stourhead estate in Wiltshire from his grandfather, Henry Hoare II, which enabled him to pursue his interests including the archaeological studies for which he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cursus East
Cursuses are monumental Neolithic enclosure structures comprising parallel banks with external ditches or trenches. Found only in the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, relics within them indicate that they were built between 3400 and 3000 BC, making them among the oldest monumental structures on the islands. The name 'cursus' was suggested in 1723 by the antiquarian William Stukeley, who compared the Stonehenge cursus to a Roman chariot-racing track, or circus.''The Stour Valley: a Prehistoric Landscape''. Colchester Archaeological Group. Cursuses range in length from to almost . The distance between the parallel earthworks can be up to . Banks at the terminal ends enclose the cursus. Over fifty have been identified via aerial photography while many others have doubtless been obliterated by farming and other activities. The Stonehenge Cursus is a notable example within sight of the more famous Stonehenge stone circle. Other examples are the four cursuses at Rudston in Yor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sherd
This page is a glossary of archaeology, the study of the human past from material remains. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z See also * Outline of archaeology * Table of years in archaeology * Glossary of history References Bibliography * * * * * * * * * External links About.com Archaeology Glossary {{Glossaries of science and engineering Archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bluestone
Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of natural dimension stone, dimension or building stone varieties, including: * basalt in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, and in New Zealand * diabase, dolerites in Tasmania, Australia; and in Britain (including Stonehenge) * feldspar, feldspathic sandstone in the US and Canada * limestone in the Shenandoah Valley in the US, from the Hainaut (province), Hainaut quarries in Soignies, Belgium, and from quarries in County Carlow, County Galway and County Kilkenny in Ireland * slate in South Australia It is unrelated to human-made blue brick. Stonehenge The term "bluestone" in Britain is used in a loose sense to cover all of the "foreign", not intrinsic, stones and rock debris at Stonehenge. It is a "convenience" label rather than a geological term, since at least 46 different rock types are represented. One of the most common rocks in the assemblage is known as Preseli spotted dolerite—a chemically altered i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Stukeley
William Stukeley (7 November 1687 – 3 March 1765) was an English antiquarian, physician and Anglican clergyman. A significant influence on the later development of archaeology, he pioneered the scholarly investigation of the prehistoric monuments of Stonehenge and Avebury in Wiltshire. He published over twenty books on archaeology and other subjects during his lifetime. Born in Holbeach, Lincolnshire, as the son of a lawyer, Stukeley worked in his father's law business before attending Saint Benet's College, Cambridge (now Corpus Christi College). In 1709, he began studying medicine at St Thomas' Hospital, Southwark, before working as a general practitioner in Boston, Lincolnshire. From 1710 until 1725, he embarked on annual tours of the countryside, seeking out archaeological monuments and other features that interested him; he wrote up and published several accounts of his travels. In 1717, he returned to London and established himself within the city's antiquarian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Listed building, listed ruins, and architecturally notable English country houses. The charity states that it uses these properties to "bring the story of England to life for over 10 million people each year". Within its portfolio are Stonehenge, Dover Castle, Tintagel Castle, and the "best-preserved" parts of Hadrian's Wall. English Heritage also manages the London blue plaque scheme, which links influential historical figures to particular buildings. When originally formed in 1983, English Heritage was the operating name of an executive non-departmental public body of the Her Majesty's Government, British Government, officially titled the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England, that ran the national system of heritage prot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorset Cursus
The Dorset Cursus is a Neolithic cursus monument that spans across 10 km (6¼ miles) of the chalk downland of Cranborne Chase in east Dorset, United Kingdom. Its extreme length makes it a notable example of this class of linear earthwork; it is better interpreted as a pair of same-length cursus constructed end to end, with the more southerly cursus (the Gussage Cursus) pre-dating the northerly one (the Pentridge Cursus). Context Very little remains above ground of the Dorset Cursus, which once stretched for 10 km (6¼ miles) through the undulating chalkland of Cranborne Chase in east Dorset, from Martin Down to Thickthorn Down (both near the A354 road). It is by far the largest example of this class of ancient monument: it is over three times longer than the archetypical Great Cursus near Stonehenge. Most of the current knowledge about the course of this ancient earthwork comes from aerial photography (where its course can be seen as cropmarks or soil marks) an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Winterbourne (stream)
A winterbourne is a stream or river that is dry during the summer months, a special case of an intermittent stream. ''Winterbourne'' is a British term derived from the Old English ("winter stream"). A winterbourne is sometimes simply called a '' bourne'', from the Anglo-Saxon word for a stream flowing from a spring, although this term can also be used for all-year watercourses. Winterbournes generally form in areas where there is chalk (or other porous rock) downland adjacent to clay valleys or vales. When it rains, the porous chalk holds water in its aquifer and releases the water at a steady rate. During the dry season, the water table can fall below the level of the stream bed, causing it to dry up. The use of chalk aquifers as a domestic water source in Britain has had the effect of turning many streams and rivers into artificial winterbournes. This effect is controversial, and local campaigns have often been successful in reducing aquifer abstraction and reversing the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Long Barrow
Long barrows are a style of monument constructed across Western Europe in the fifth and fourth millennia BCE, during the Early Neolithic period. Typically constructed from earth and either timber or stone, those using the latter material represent the oldest widespread tradition of stone construction in the world. Around 40,000 long barrows survive today. The structures have a long earthen tumulus, or "barrow", that is flanked on two sides with linear ditches. These typically stretch for between 20 and 70 metres in length, although some exceptional examples are either longer or shorter than this. Some examples have a timber or stone chamber in one end of the tumulus. These monuments often contained human remains interred within their chambers, and as a result, are often interpreted as tombs, although there are some examples where this appears not to be the case. The choice of timber or stone may have arisen from the availability of local materials rather than cultural difference ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of the three-age system, following the Stone Age and preceding the Iron Age. Conceived as a global era, the Bronze Age follows the Neolithic, with a transition period between the two known as the Chalcolithic. The final decades of the Bronze Age in the Mediterranean basin are often characterised as a period of widespread societal collapse known as the Late Bronze Age collapse (), although its severity and scope are debated among scholars. An ancient civilisation is deemed to be part of the Bronze Age if it either produced bronze by smelting its own copper and alloying it with tin, arsenic, or other metals, or traded other items for bronze from producing areas elsewhere. Bronze Age cultures were the first to History of writing, develop writin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
