cursus

British prehistoric field monument. These earthworks, of unknown origin and purpose, consist of a long, narrow area enclosed by small banks. Aerial surveys have revealed several cursi in the Thames Valley and Wessex, but the most notable are at Stonehenge and in northern Dorset, where the longest known example runs for about 10 km/6 mi.

Cursi are of unknown origin and purpose, but possibly relate to changes in agricultural practice around 3500 to 2500 BC which transformed land use and ideas of ownership of territory. They have some analogy with contemporary stone alignments in Brittany, northwestern France, although there may not have been direct contact.

The feature was named after the Latin cursus ‘course’ by the 18th-century British antiquary William Stukeley, who believed it was used in funeral rituals for races and ceremonies.