Editing Causewayed enclosure (section)

== Dating ==
The first causewayed enclosures were constructed in Western Europe in the fifth millennium BC and by the early third millennium BC; notable regional variations occur in their construction.  French examples begin to demonstrate elaborate horn-shaped entrances which are interpreted as being designed to impress from afar rather than serve any practical purpose.{{Citation needed |date=July 2022}}

The dates of construction and use of causwayed enclosures in Britain and Ireland were the subject of a seminal study using [[Bayesian]] analysis of [[Radiocarbon dating|radiocarbon dates]], ''Gathering Time'',<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Whittle |first1=Alasdair |title=Gathering Time: Dating the Early Neolithic Enclosures of Southern Britain and Ireland |last2=Healy |first2=Frances |last3=Bayliss |first3=Alex |publisher=[[Oxbow Books]] |year=2011 |location=Oxford}}</ref> which provided unprecedented historical precision for the Neolithic period. This showed that following the start of the Neolithic in Britain, i.e. the arrival of the first farmers in the 41st century BC, the first monuments built were [[long barrow]]s, which became popular at the end of the 39th century, that is, around 3800 BC (or a few decades later <ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bayliss |first1=Alex |last2=Marshall |first2=Peter |last3=Dee |first3=Michael W. |last4=Friedrich |first4=Michael |last5=Heaton |first5=Timothy J. |last6=Wacker |first6=Lukas |date=2020 |title=IntCal20 Tree Rings: An Archaeological Swot Analysis |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/radiocarbon/article/intcal20-tree-rings-an-archaeological-swot-analysis/3B0B6B44E8ADDE2AF2AFD2D2935C45A8 |journal=Radiocarbon |language=en |volume=62 |issue=4 |pages=1045–1078 |doi=10.1017/RDC.2020.77 |bibcode=2020Radcb..62.1045B |s2cid=223647996 |issn=0033-8222|hdl=1893/31644 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>). The fashion for causewayed enclosures took off in the late 38th century, starting in east Britain and rapidly spreading west, with construction peaking in the third quarter of the 37th century. At this time the long barrows were closed up or at least went out of use. Following a lull, a final round of construction of causewayed enclosures happened in the 36th century, and at the same time the usage of existing enclosures (as marked by deposition in the ditches, and continued re-cutting) increased. Some enclosures were in use for only a generation, while others, such as the [[type site]], [[Windmill Hill, Avebury]], and [[Hambledon Hill]], were used for centuries, continuing until the 35th or 34th centuries BC. Throughout this period of primary use, a number of examples were identified of violence and attacks at enclosures. After the 36th century, a new type of monument, the [[cursus]], became popular. All this long preceded the earliest [[henge]] monuments, including [[Stonehenge#Stonehenge 1 (c. 3100 BC)|Stonehenge I]].