Thickthorn Down Long Barrows

The Thickthorn Down Long Barrows are two Neolithic long barrows near Gussage St Michael in Dorset, situated at the southwestern terminal of the Dorset Cursus. The southern barrow, excavated by Stuart Piggott in 1933, measures 145 feet long, 60 feet wide, and 8 feet high, surrounded by a U-shaped ditch. Excavation yielded Early Neolithic pottery, two carved chalk phalli, animal bone, and later Peterborough Ware, with four secondary Beaker-period crouched burials inserted into the mound. Both barrows are a scheduled monument dating to approximately 4000-2351 BC.