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3 General description
The name "cursus" was first used in an archaeological context by
William Stukeley in the early 18th century to describe a linear
enclosure to the north of Stonehenge, Wiltshire, which he likened to
a racecourse. When similar monuments were identified as cropmarks in
the upper Thames Valley (Leeds 1934) it was suggested that the word
cursus be used as a suitable term to describe these too (Crawford
1935). Known examples of the newly defined class were discussed by
Stone in 1940, and by 1960 some 16 sites were included in a list
published by the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (RCHM
1960). In the last 10 years or so a number of cursus have been
investigated in some detail, including Springfield, Essex (Hedges &
Buckley 1981), Maxey, Cambridgeshire (Pryor & French 1985), and the
Dorset Cursus, Dorset (Bradley 1986).
The most distinctive feature of any cursus is its perimeter
earthwork. This almost always comprises a simple bank and ditch, but
in Scotland a number of cursus are defined by a row of closely-set
pits or postholes. Because the pit-edged cursus are, according to
present evidence, confined to Scotland they are not described in
detail in this paper.
The scale of the ditches surrounding cursus vary greatly. At Rudston
A, North Yorkshire, the ditch had a maximum width of 4.0m, and
although most cursus ditches are within the range 2.0m - 3.0m across
some can be as little as 1.5m. wide. The Dorchester-on-Thames cursus
ditch had a maximum depth of a little less than 2.0m, but at Maxey,
Cambridgeshire, the ditch was only 0.6m deep. In cases where several
sections across the ditches of a single cursus have been studied it
is clear that the size of the ditches increase significantly towards
the terminals. Ditches are generally U-shaped in cross section.
Most investigated cursus show either earthwork evidence, or silting
profiles in the ditches, which suggest the presence of an internal
bank along all four sides of the monument (ie. side banks). In some
cases these may have been revetted by turf walls and stood anything
from 1.5m to 3.0m high. In some cases a berm separates the bank from
the ditch. There are, however, exceptions. At Aston, Derbyshire, an
outer bank is postulated, and at Thornborough, North Yorkshire, both
inner and outer banks may have been present. At Scorton, North
Yorkshire, the spoil from the side ditches seems to have been dumped
in the area between the ditches to form a low mound or platform
along the whole length of the enclosure (ie. centre bank).
Access to the interiors of cursus was greatly restricted.
Entranceways occur most often near one end of the long sides, but
may also be found in the centre of the long sides or at the ends.
The Dorset cursus appears to have had only two entrances, both of
them 900m from its northern end.
Cursus vary in size enormously. Short examples, sometimes known as
minor cursus, range from about 250m to about 900m long, whereas the
larger examples, or major cursus, may be anything up to 5.6km long.
The Dorset cursus is often cited as being about 10km in length, but
this monument is in fact two cursus joined together, one of 5.6km
and the other of 4.3km. Other long cursus may also result from
several shorter examples being set end-to-end. Cursus width varies
roughly proportionally with length in the sense that the longest
cursus are also the widest, but in no cases does the width of a
cursus exceed 130m; most are in the range 20-60m.
In outline, the long sides of a cursus are roughly parallel to one
another, but when examined in detail most show slight variations in
width and alignment. Often, one of the long sides is fairly straight
while the other has a more uneven course. This has led to the
suggestion that one side was ranged out while the other was
determined by a series of offsets from the first line. Other
explanations are equally likely, however, and at Springfield, Essex,
excavations have shown that a kink in the south side was orientated
on an earlier pit which was cut by the cursus ditch, while elsewhere
pre-existing monuments may have been the cause of deviations.
The greatest variations in ground-plan occur at the terminals, and
on the basis of terminal shape Loveday has proposed the following
simple sub-division of the class:
* A. Round-ended types in which the terminals have curved
earthworks across the ends either semi-circular or
semi-elliptical in plan.
* B. Square-ended types in which the terminals have straight
earthworks across the end set either at right-angles to the
side ditches or obliquely to form a bevelled end.
A selection of simplified ground-plans illustrating examples of
these two main types is given on Figure 1.
Cursus are rarely straight. Most have a slight curve in their main
axis, and some of the longer examples contain distinct changes in
alignment along their course. In some cases this may be due to the
amalgamation of several individual cursus to form a single much
larger structure, but mostly these changes in axis seem to have been
part of the initial design. Bradley (1986, 4) has suggested that in
the case of the Dorset cursus the changes in alignment were made to
incorporate existing monuments of other classes.
Cursus have no common orientation, and while it has been claimed
that they were built as celestial observatories there is no firm
evidence for this, and any correspondence with major risings or
settings of the sun or moon may be coincidental. Cursus often run
across valleys, and their setting and scale can only be fully
appreciated by standing at the terminals which are usually
intervisible. It has frequently been pointed out that many cursus
have their terminals close to water courses or run across an
interfluve between two rivers. This is especially true of many
valley-situated cursus, and it may also be noted that because of
their proximity to rivers some cursus are wholly or partly covered
by alluvium. Whether the activities undertaken at cursus were in any
way connected with water or water-courses is not known.
Few cursus have been excavated on a sufficient scale to allow much
insight into the nature and variety of internal features; even large
excavations at cursus have only examined a small percentage of the
overall monument. Bedrock-cut features are often found at or near
one or other of the terminals. At Springfield, Essex, internal
features included a circular setting of upright posts and a variety
of pits and scoops containing burnt soil and cremated bone. These
were concentrated at the east terminal, and in contrast very little
was found at the western end. Elsewhere, for example at
Thornborough, North Yorkshire, burials have been found within the
enclosure or in the ditches. At Drayton, Oxfordshire, two pits
containing human bone were recorded.
Blank areas are certainly present in most cursus, but whether any
sites totally lacked internal features is not known.
Flintworking debris has been found in the fills of many excavated
ditches, or in the immediate vicinity of the site. Pottery is
generally scarce at cursus sites, and seems more frequent in the
upper ditch fills than in primary silting.
In most cases, ditches silted-up naturally, but occasionally signs
of back-filling and recutting have been reported. At Maxey,
Cambridgeshire, the excavator suggested that the cursus ditches were
dug over a long period as a series of alignments with a similar
orientation and that for this reason the ditches were never all open
at the same time.
Surface surveys around Maxey, Cambridgeshire, showed that there was
no increase in the density of flintwork over the cursus and that
phosphate levels showed no enhancement within the cursus.
Cursus have been interpreted in various ways since their initial
identification as a class of monument. The name itself is the latin
term for a race-track and this was one of the possible functions
suggested by Stukeley. More recently a ritual/ceremonial role has
been assigned to cursus, particularly in the light of evidence for
the burning of animal (and perhaps human) bodies, and the
associations (see below) with burial monuments of various classes.
Pryor (1985, 301) has suggested that three kinds of cursus can be
identified on the basis of their form and the duration of usage: (1)
Monumental or continuously used sites, eg. the Dorset cursus; (2)
Short-lived, single period sites, eg. Springfield, Essex; and (3)
Long-lived episodic ditched alignment sites, eg. Maxey, Cambridgeshire.