Stonehenge Cursus

Excavations in 2007 dated the construction of the earthwork to between 3630 and 3375 BCE,[3] several hundred years before the earliest phase of Stonehenge in 3000 BC.

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.

Because of a slight difference in the alignment of its north and south ditches, it widens to a point nearly 150 m near its western end.

The length of the cursus, running roughly east west, crosses a dry river valley known as Stonehenge Bottom.

[6] William Stukeley was the first antiquarian to identify and record the Stonehenge Cursus, although he incorrectly assumed it to be Roman in origin.

In 1947 John FS Stone excavated a small area of the southern ditch toward the west end of the cursus.

He discovered a small chipping of bluestone and an antler pick in a specially dug recess that dated from approximately 2500 BCE.

It was noted by William Stukeley in 1723 and Richard Colt Hoare in 1810, and was excavated by John Thurnam in 1868, recovering an ox skull and some secondary inhumations.

The 2 m deep eastern ditch of the barrow was excavated once in the 1980s by Julian Richards and his team for the Stonehenge Environs Project, although they failed to find any dateable material.

Although its banks and ditches survived into the 20th century, ploughing since World War II has levelled it and it is only visible today as a cropmark.

The cursus viewed from its eastern end. The gap in the trees on the horizon marks its western end.