http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ mirrored file For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== *Cursus* Enclosures This project aims to re-assess some of England's earliest and rarest ritual The bank barrow at Long Bredy in Dorset. (photo © English Heritage). monuments: *cursus* enclosures and bank barrows. Both these types of Neolithic monument, built between 4,000 and 2,500 BC, are characterised by linear mounds and elongated enclosures surrounded by banks and ditches. *Cursus* monuments take their name from the Latin for 'racecourse', because early archaeologists believed they had been used by the Ancient Britons for racing their chariots. Although this thory has been dismissed, their true purpose remains a mystery. They are widely believed to have served as routeways for ceremonial processions, for many of them extend over considerable distances, constituting some of the most substantial constructions in prehistoric Europe. The most famous is probably the Dorset *Cursus*, which straddles the chalk downland of Cranborne Chase for a distance of almost 10kms (6 miles). A 'long cairn' at Bellshiel Law on the Otterburn Ranges in Northumberland. (photo © English Heritage). The earthworks of the majority of these monuments have been levelled by centuries of ploughing and are now only visible from the air as 'cropmarks'. The Landscape Investigation Team has followed up survey work by our colleagues in English Heritage's Aerial Survey Team by visiting the sites on the ground to determine their relationship to the natural topography and geology. Where earthworks still survive, we can find out even more about how these monuments were built and used, and how they shaped the character of the prehistoric and later landscape. For example, the bank barrow at Long Bredy in Dorset seems to have started off as a 'normal' Neolithic burial mound - a 'long barrow' - which was later extended by the addition of a much longer 'tail'. Subsequently, Bronze Age burial mounds - 'round barrows' - were built around the Neolithic monument. Similarly, the 'long cairn' (that is, a bank barrow built of stone) at Bellshiel Law on the Otterburn Ranges in Northumberland is also clearly a very complex monument, comprising two opposing mounds with a 100m long bank running between them. To date, we have recorded and analysed a dozen of these well-preserved sites in detail, with good results, during the preliminary part of the project. However, the overall aims of the project extend well beyond this. It is intended that a multi-disciplinary team will research, record and interpret these sites through the focussed use of earthwork, aerial and geophysical survey techniques. The ultimate goals of the project are to ensure that the work leads to a better understanding of the sites from a national perspective, alongside a characterisation of their associated landscapes (both ritual and secular). Importantly, the project team will seek to communicate the results of our enquiries in new and innovative ways making best use of opportunities presented by new information technology and survey equipment. For further information contact David McOmish on 01223 556 218 or e-mail david.mcomish@english-heritage.org.uk