A New Study of the Cursus Complex at Dorchester on Thames

Summary. This paper reviews some recent developments in the study of non‐utilitarian monuments in relation to a new analysis of a group of earthworks at Dorchester on Thames, Oxfordshire, excavated between 1946 and 1981. It traces the changing character of these different sites in the light of a series of radiocarbon dates, and argues that analysis at this broad chronological and geographical scale is likely to be more informative than piecemeal investigation of individual ‘types’of monument.