Editing Cursus (section)

== Function ==
[[image:Dorset cursus terminal on thickthorn down.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Dorset Cursus]] terminal on Thickthorn Down, Dorset]][[File:Tynwald Hill.jpg|300px|thumbnail|right|Tynwald Hill, Isle of Man]]
It has been conjectured that they were used in [[ritual]]s connected with [[ancestor veneration]], 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. [[Anthropology|Anthropological]] parallels exist{{citation needed|date=July 2019}} for this interpretation.

Contemporary internal features are rare and it has been traditionally thought{{by whom|date=July 2019}} that the cursuses were used as processional routes. They are often aligned on and respect the position of pre-existing [[long barrow]]s and [[bank barrow]]s 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 Circles|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{{by whom|date=July 2019}} 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]].