Re: Visiting the Dorset Cursus | Forum

The Dorset Cursus 3

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Visiting the Dorset Cursus

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UncleRob Aug 7, 2009 12:57:54

Replying to The Eternal

Thanks guys for the good vibes sending me on my way! Feels like a proper expedition now! I will return with pictures and words to share.

As for the business of being cut through the trees, I got the notion from Martin Green's book "A Landscape Revealed" where microscopic fragments of snail shell in the cursus bank belong to some species which favour open grassland or pasture and others which live only in forests. I don't think it could really be called wild wood at that point in time, but I suspect there were big chunks of virgin forest not far away, like on steeper slopes to the north.

If I'm not back by dinner time, send out the Mounties.
Rob

juamei Aug 8, 2009 08:43:59

Replying to UncleRob

Shame I only saw this now, am about to head south to catch up on some Dorset lurrvelies I've not seen for a while.

In my view the cursus is the most amazing monument in Dorset. In size it is unparalleled (unlike its bank... sorry ;) I've seen both ends and a couple of bits in the middle. My personal recommendation would be the other side of the wood from Oakley Down. I found a photo the other day from there that I'd taken looking south up a ridge where the westerly bank is very clear as a cropmark.

This all reminds me of possibly my fav joke; What's a pirate's favourite prehistoric monument?

The Eternal Aug 8, 2009 10:21:26

Replying to UncleRob

UncleRob wrote:

Thanks guys for the good vibes sending me on my way! Feels like a proper expedition now! I will return with pictures and words to share.

If I'm not back by dinner time, send out the Mounties.
Rob

Hi Rob,

According to the book "Inscribed on the Landscape, the Cursus Enigma", snail evidence does point to some cursuses "built" in woodland, but these seem to be the exception, the majority, being on land that had been cleared and reverted to open grassland, again based on snail samples. The Dorset Cursus was one based on open grassland. Also of interest is the fact that the ditches aren't all that big, a lot being less than 0,5 metres deep, the demarcation of the area enclosed seeming to be the point, rather than the creation of a monument.

Cheers,
TE.