250px, Stonehenge Cursus, Wiltshire
250px, Dorset Cursus terminal on Thickthorn Down, Dorset
Cursuses are
monumental
Neolithic structures resembling
ditches or
trenches in the islands of
Great Britain and
Ireland. Relics found 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
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 ...
, the antiquarian, who compared the Stonehenge cursus to a Roman chariot-racing track, or circus.
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
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 construct ...
is a notable example within sight of the more famous
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...
stone circle. Other examples are the four cursuses at
Rudston in
Yorkshire, that at
Fornham All Saints in
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial cou 
