terminal on Thickthorn Down, Dorset It has been conjectured that they were used in
rituals connected with
ancestor veneration; or that they follow astronomical alignments; or that they served as buffer zones between ceremonial and occupation landscapes. More recent studies have reassessed the original interpretation and argued that they were used for ceremonial competitions. Finds of arrowheads at the terminal ends suggest archery and hunting were important to the builders and that the length of the cursus may have reflected its use as a proving ground for young men involving a journey to adulthood.
Anthropological parallels exist for this interpretation. Contemporary internal features are rare and it has been traditionally thought that the cursuses were used as processional routes. They are often aligned on and respect the position of pre-existing
long barrows and
bank barrows and appear to ignore difficulties in terrain. The
Dorset Cursus, the longest known example, crosses a river and three valleys along its course across
Cranborne Chase and is close to the henge monuments at
Knowlton. The present-day
Tynwald day ceremony on the
Isle of Man involves the procession of parliament along a cursus-like structure, which is sometimes suggested as a related or continual folk tradition with the Neolithic cursus. Larger scale modern ceremonial analogs might include the
National Mall in Washington, and
The Mall, London. ==Identification by aerial photography==