Editing Causewayed enclosure (section)

{{short description|Prehistoric earthwork}}
{{more citations needed|date=September 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2021}}
[[File:Whitehawk camp sketch 1821 Skinner British Museum Add MS 33658 f. 68.jpg|thumb|Sketch of [[Whitehawk Camp|Whitehawk camp]], a causewayed enclosure]]

A '''causewayed enclosure''' is a type of large prehistoric [[Earthworks (Archaeology)|earthwork]] common to the early [[Neolithic]] in [[Europe]]. It is an [[enclosure (archaeology)|enclosure]] marked out by ditches and banks, with a number of [[causeway]]s crossing the ditches. More than 100 examples are recorded in [[France]] and 70 in Southern [[England]] and [[Wales]], while further sites are known in [[Scandinavia]], [[Belgium]], [[Germany]], [[Italy]], [[Ireland]] and [[Slovakia]].

The term "causewayed enclosure" is now preferred to the older term, '''causewayed camp''', as it has been demonstrated that the sites did not necessarily serve as occupation sites.

Archaeologists have speculated on the purposes of such sites, but have not arrived at a consensus as to their function.