A total of five cursuses have been recorded from the study area. The two excavated sites at Thornborough and Scorton are definite, whilst the others are possibilities. These sites represent some of the earliest known forms of prehistoric monumental architecture and could be impressive in their overall size. The Thornborough cursus was over 1.2 km long (its eastern end runs under the present village of Thornborough) and 43 metres wide and that at Scorton 2.1 km long and about 44 metres wide.

The cursus at Thornborough was first discovered in aerial photographs of the henges, by Dr J. K. St. Joseph, taken between 1945 and 1952 (Thomas, 1955, Plate II), and partially excavated in 1952 (ibid) and 1955 (Vatcher 1960). The cursus at Scorton was discovered in 1949 by Dr J. K. St. Joseph, and a small part excavated in 1978 prior to gravel extraction (Topping 1982) and ditch sections recorded under salvage conditions in 1996 (Harding unpub). The vast majority of the Scorton cursus and the western end of Thornborough were destroyed by gravel extraction without adequate archaeological investigation. The result is poor quality data, especially unfortunate given that Scorton was a highly unusual cursus. Uniquely its southern length was flanked by a pair of ditches on both sides, rather than the more typical one, although the outer ditch appears discontinuous, and it possessed a wide internal mound or bank, as well as the more normal external bank. Thornborough was enclosed by a single ditch, but recent excavation has identified what could be an internal palisade and other associated features. It is unclear where the bank lay, but it is likely that two existed, both internally and externally. It had a convex western terminal, a very rare feature, although it is unclear how the eastern end terminated. Scorton had the more usual squared-off end. The Thornborough excavations produced no dating evidence, although soil analysis of basal ditch deposits suggested a wooded environment, interpreted as being of Neolithic date. The Scorton cursus also produced no direct dating evidence, although Beaker pot sherds from the primary fill of the western ditch at the north-west end of the monument suggest a late Neolithic date.

These monuments are particularly significant for understanding the early Neolithic and later periods, although at present they remain enigmatic structures. Their particular positioning within the landscape, and their association with other, usually later, features, notably burial monuments, highlights how they may have acted as important foci for local populations. The possible presence of three other cursus monuments, two of which are also 40 metres wide — one in close proximity to the northern henge at Thornborough, another nearby at Kirklington, and a third on a ridge top between the henges of Hutton Moor and Cana Barn — highlights the importance of these monuments across the study area. Unfortunately, only short sections of these monuments are known from aerial photography. It is essential to improve the nature and extent of the fragmentary data currently held on these monuments.