Images

Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by thesweetcheat

Looking west along the Cursus. Amesbury 56 round barrow can be seen inside the earthwork. The western terminus is out of site beyond the rise.

Image credit: A. Brookes (25.11.2017)
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by thesweetcheat

The low bank marking the western terminus of the Cursus.

Image credit: A. Brookes (25.11.2017)
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by thesweetcheat

Looking westwards along the Cursus. It goes all the way to the distant gap between the two plantations. The viewpoint is the site of the long barrow that formed the eastern terminus of the cursus.

Image credit: A. Brookes (25.11.2017)
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by jimit

Closing ditch around the east end.

Image credit: Jimit Sept 08
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by jimit

Closing ditch around the east end.
Excavation of anomalies in the next trench showed they were tree throws.

Image credit: Jimit Sept 08
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Stonehenge Riverside Project 2007: GPS survey along the route of the Curcus early Sept. 2007

Image credit: Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Stonehenge Riverside Project 2007: Stonehenge Circus excavations, northern ditch excavations nearing completion early Sept. 2007

Image credit: Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Stonehenge Riverside Project 2007: Stonehenge Circus excavations, northern ditch excavations early Sept. 2007

Image credit: Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Stonehenge Riverside Project 2007: Stonehenge Circus excavations, northern ditch excavations early Sept. 2007

Image credit: Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Stonehenge Riverside Project 2007: Stonehenge Circus excavations, northern ditch excavations begin late August 2007

Image credit: Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Stonehenge Riverside Project 2007: Stonehenge Circus excavations, western terminus, early Sept. Completed excavations, close up of excavated terminus.

Image credit: Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Stonehenge Riverside Project 2007: Stonehenge Circus excavations, western terminus, early Sept. Completed excavations.

Image credit: Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Stonehenge Riverside Project 2007: Stonehenge Circus, western terminus, final recording early Sept. 2007

Image credit: Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Stonehenge Riverside Project 2007: Stonehenge Circus excavations, western terminus, Late August 2007

Image credit: Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Stonehenge Riverside Project 2007: Stonehenge Circus excavations detail of the western terminus being excavated Late August 2007

Image credit: Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Stonehenge Riverside Project 2007: Stonehenge Circus excavations begin, western terminus, Late August 2007

Image credit: Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Stonehenge Riverside Project 2007: Stonehenge Circus excavations begin, western terminus, Late August 2007

Image credit: Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Stonehenge Riverside Project 2007: Stonehenge Circus southern ditch excavations complete early Sept 2007

Image credit: Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Stonehenge Riverside Project 2007: Stonehenge Circus southern ditch being final recording before backfilling trench early Sept 2007

Image credit: Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Stonehenge Riverside Project 2007: Stonehenge Circus students excavating the southern ditch late August 2007.

Image credit: Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Stonehenge Riverside Project 2007: Stonehenge Circus southern ditch being excavated late August 2007.

Image credit: Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Stonehenge Riverside Project 2007: Stonehenge Circus southern ditch being excavated late August 2007.

Image credit: Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Stonehenge Riverside Project 2007: Excavations of the Stonehenge Circus southern ditch began late August 2007

Image credit: Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by jimit

The National Trust sign at the western end.

Image credit: Jimit Sept 07
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by jimit

Stonehenge Riverside Project.
The southern ditch. The excavators were speculating that the small holes in the bottom held stakes, possibly a sort of fence.

Image credit: Jimit Sept 07
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by jimit

Stonehenge Riverside Project.
One of two odd ramp-like features found in the southern ditch.

Image credit: Jimit Sept 07
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by jimit

Stonehenge Riverside Project.
An unexpected discovery at the north ditch (Just visible behind guy in check shirt). A linear ditch (?) which approaches but does not breach the Cursus ditch.

Image credit: Jimit Sept 07
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by jimit

Stonehenge Riverside Project.
The western terminal ditch. A curious curve as the Cursus is to the left.

Image credit: Jimit Sept 07
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by jimit

Stonehenge Riverside Project.
Early excavation of the S ditch leading to the W terminus and the later barrow.
Jim.

Image credit: Jimit Aug 07
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by jimit

Stonehenge Riverside Project.
Early excavation of the S Ditch. It is interesting that this first stretch of the S ditch and bank seems to be aligned on Beacon Hill, shortly after this trench they veer northwards to follow parallel to the others. (clearly visible on OS maps) Change of mind...different gangs? What struck me was the beautiful quality of the ditch infill. a fine, dark loam that any gardener would covet.
Jim.

Image credit: Jimit Aug 07
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by jimit

Stonehenge Riverside Project.
Early excavation of the N ditch.
Jim.

Image credit: Jimit Aug 07
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by jimit

Stonehenge Riverside Project.
Early excavations outside the W termination of the Cursus. I was told that the slight bank to the right of the trench is a 20c reconstruction of the original bank, destroyed when a pig farm was built there!
(all errors are mine!)
Jim.

Image credit: Jimit Aug 07
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Manchester Uni Students conducting geophysics, the Circus (Fargo Plantation) August 2006

Image credit: Copyright Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Manchester Uni Students conducting Geophysics, the Circus (Fargo Plantation) August 2006

Image credit: Copyright Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Manchester Uni Students test Pitting, the Circus (Fargo Plantation) August 2006

Image credit: Copyright Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Manchester Uni Students test Pitting, the Circus (Fargo Plantation) August 2006

Image credit: Copyright Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Manchester Uni Students test Pitting, the Circus (Fargo Plantation) August 2006

Image credit: Copyright Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Manchester Uni Students test Pitting, the Circus (Fargo Plantation) August 2006

Image credit: Copyright Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Manchester Uni Students test Pitting, the Circus (Fargo Plantation) August 2006

Image credit: Copyright Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by copius-freakus2

Manchester Uni Students test Pitting, the Circus (Fargo Plantation) August 2006

Image credit: Copyright Richard Hayward
Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by baza

Students from Manchester University excavating test pits near to Fargo Plantation as part of the Stonehenge Riverside Project. Part of the southern bank and ditch of the cursus can be seen just beyond them.

Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by Chris Collyer

Looking east along the line of the cursus from the western terminal. Its sides are marked by the trees to the left and the hedges to the right.

Image of The Stonehenge Cursus by RiotGibbon

You can just about see it here ... it banks up slightly on the left of the picture. The width of the cursus is the gap between the trees at the top

Winter Solstice 2001

Articles

Cursus dated

From The University of Manchester:

‘Cursus’ is older than Stonehenge

Archeologists have come a step closer to solving the 285-year-old riddle of an ancient monument thought to be a precursor to Stonehenge.

A team led by University of Manchester archaeologist Professor Julian Thomas has dated the Greater Stonehenge Cursus at about 3,500 years BC – 500 years older than the circle itself.

They were able to pinpoint its age after discovering an antler pick used to dig the Cursus – the most significant find since it was discovered in 1723 by antiquarian William Stukeley.

When the pick was carbon dated the results pointed to an age which was much older than previously thought – between 3600 and 3300 BC – and has caused a sensation among archeologists.

The dig took place last summer in a collaborative project run by five British universities and funded by the Arts and Histories Research Council and the National Geographic Society.

Professor Thomas said: “The Stonehenge Cursus is a 100 metre wide mile long area which runs about 500 metres north of Stonehenge.

“We don’t know what it was used for – but we do know it encloses a pathway which has been made inaccessible.

“And that suggests it was either a sanctified area or for some reason was cursed.”

Professor Thomas believes that the Cursus was part of complex of monuments, within which Stonehenge was later constructed.

Other elements include the ‘Lesser Stonehenge Cursus’ and a series of long barrows – all built within a mile of Henge.

He added: “Our colleagues led by a team from Sheffield University have also dated some of the cremated human remains from Stonehenge itself.

“That’s caused another sensational discovery and proves that burial cremation had been taking place at Stonehenge as early as 2900 BC – soon after the monument was first built.

“But what is still so intriguing about the Cursus is that it’s about 500 years older than Henge – that strongly suggests there was a link and was very possibly a precursor.

“We hope more discoveries lie in store when we work on the Eastern end of the Cursus this summer.

“It will be a big step forward in our understanding of this enigmatic monument.”

The Stonehenge Cursus

Unlike Rhiannon I didn’t walk right up to the Cursus but chose to ‘view’ it from the top of a barrow just to the south of it.
(Easy walk from the official car park)
There was a pretty good view from the top of the barrow and you can let your imagination get the better of you by imagining how it would have looked when in its prime. I wonder what really went on here all those years ago?

The Stonehenge Cursus

Well Cursuswalker, the machine dispensing leaflets seems to have been dispensed with full stop. Oh well. It’ll save people having to enter the circus that is the Stonehenge car park on a summer afternoon. They want £3 off you if you’re not paying to see the stones. I, like many other people, chose to park for nothing on the side of the byway that runs up to the Cursus. And after queuing for a lockless and fairly mangy toilet I headed up the track. It’s not long before you get away from the mayhem. It’s amazing how few people bother – and yet, you get a completely different view and understanding of the stones.

It’s heresy, but I kind of feel that Stonehenge is, has to be, a sacrificial site – I mean, sacrificed to tourists. EH can make huge profits out of it, and they can sink those profits into other heritage sites. This is surely good. All this aspirational stuff about a new visitor centre far away, and ‘walking to the stones’... people on the whistle stop Stonehenge tour don’t want to walk. If they did, and they had time, they would already be walking over the landscape, and they’re not. I was virtually alone.

Just keep walking and before you know it (wafted along by painted lady butterflies) you are there slap bang in the middle of the cursus. It’s immense, disappearing off as far as you can see in both directions. Cows roam on one side, sheep on the other, and you can walk the length of it if you please. A board shows you the brawny prehistoric builders digging the ditches and building up the chalk sides – thus it was originally even more dazzly and impressive.

So I urge you to make the (relatively minimal) effort and walk up here. Maybe it’s for the slightly geeky – but that’s you anyway isn’t it.

The Stonehenge Cursus

At the time of posting, the booklet I mentioned in my last fieldnote is unavailable, as the machine is......non-functional. Good to see EH keeping the facilities up to scratch!

The Stonehenge Cursus

When you next visit Stonehenge, try getting hold of the booklet “Exploring The Stonehenge Landscape” that is sold from machines in the car park, but not in the shop for some odd reason.
I recommend Walk 3, which takes in all the most prominent barrow groups to the north, but most importantly includes walking the entire length of the Stonehenge Cursus, a two mile long processional Neolithic route that leads to a now destroyed long barrow. The sides of the Cursus can be made out along most of its length and it is vast in scale.

For much of its length Stonehenge can be seen right on the horizon, without all the modern rubbish that surrounds it. The walk ends by approaching the Henge up the Stonehenge Avenue, from the exact direction of the Midsummer sunrise.

The walk is about 6 miles in total and gives you an utterly different way of seeing the whole area.

Miscellaneous

The Stonehenge Cursus
Cursus

Details of site on Pastscape

Neolithic cursus, comprising a long, narrow earthwork enclosure circa 2.7 kilometres long, and varying in width from 100 to 150 metres. The cursus is orientated roughly east-west, passing within circa 700 metres of Stonehenge (SU 14 SW 4), which is located to the south. Both ends of the cursus are square in plan with rounded corners. Two round barrows lie within the cursus interior at its western end. Much of the cursus bank and ditch survives as earthworks, the bank to a maximum height of 0.4 metres, and 6.5 metres width. Small scale excavations occurred in 1947, 1959 and 1983, plus some reconstruction work in 1987. Dating evidence for the main phase of use is limited, but construction has been assigned to a period contemporary with phase 1 at Stonehenge (circa 2950-2900BC), and the main use of the monument is believed to have come to an end during phase 2 (circa 2900-2400BC).

Sites within 20km of The Stonehenge Cursus