On the origins and development of cursus monuments in Britain

The problem of dating cursus monuments has troubled British archaeology for some decades. A series of recent radiocarbon determinations from sites in lowland Scotland suggests that cursus monuments defined by posts and pits are generally earlier than the more familiar bank and ditch structures, and may have been constructed very early within the British Neolithic sequence. The implications of such a sequence are discussed in relation to the affinities of these structures, and landscape change between 4000 and 3600 cal BC.