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Photo: Psychostevouk (talk), Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
A huge and mysterious monument, the cursus is a 3 km long earthwork just north of Stonehenge. Consisting of a ditch and bank running east-west, it is still visible on the landscape, although its purpose remains unknown.
The Stonehenge Cursus is a large Neolithic cursus monument on Salisbury plain, near to Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England. It is roughly 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) long and between 100 metres (330 ft) and 150 metres (490 ft) wide. Excavations in 2007 dated the construction of the earthwork to between 3630 and 3375 BCE, several hundred years before the earliest phase of Stonehenge in 3000 BC. The cursus, along with adjacent barrows and the nearby 'Lesser Cursus' are part of the National Trust's Stonehenge Landscape property, and is within the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site.
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A ceremonial approach way to Stonehenge, the Avenue links the monument to the river Avon. Its ditch and embankment can still be seen from the stones, and its path can be followed up to King Barrows Ridge.
So called because of its commanding views of Stonehenge, King Barrows Ridge is on the course of the Avenue, and delivers one of the most breathtaking views over Stonehenge bowl. It also has a number of impressive burial mounds known as barrows.
Less than half a mile south of Stonehenge, this is a cemetery of over 50 barrows, including the famous Bush Barrow with finds in the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes. The area around the barrows is now an RSPB reserve for stone curlews.
A mile west of Stonehenge is a collection of every type of burial mound found in the UK. A neolithic long barrow creates an alignment that later Bronze Age barrows have been built on, including distinct bowl, bell, pond, saucer and disc barrows.
Just north of Woodhenge, Durrington Walls has been revealed as the site of a great Neolithic village, and likely home of several religious activities. The walls are the remains of the largest henge (earthworks) monument in the UK - some 500 m in diameter.