Radical solution proposed for Stonehenge

Blackleaf

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Oct 9, 2004
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A solution has been found to the problem of heavy traffic going past Stonehenge - do nothing.



Radical solution proposed for Stonehenge

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Maev Kennedy[/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Saturday October 7, 2006[/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Guardian Unlimited[/FONT]


[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]National disgrace ... heavy traffic on the A303 near Stonehenge[/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Photograph: Sean Smith[/FONT]



After over 20 years of argument and countless millions spent on consultants and planning inquiries over the state of Stonehenge, a leading expert last night proposed a radical solution: do nothing.

The government's long overdue decision on the roads which strangle the world's most famous prehistoric monument is ardently awaited by archaeologists and local residents alike, after two public inquiries and last summer's lengthy public consultation.

Last night Professor Peter Fowler, an internationally acknowledged expert on the Stonehenge landscape and on World Heritage Sites management, washed his hands of the whole argument.

The A303, a main artery to the south west that narrows to a grinding two-lane traffic jam where it passes the stone circle, should be closed and replaced with a tunnel, and the smaller A344 which actually clips the heel stone of the monument, should also go, he said, adding, "But since no sort of a tunnel is going to be built, the A303 should be kept exactly as and where it is, because neither widening it nor allowing it to career off sinuously to north or south is an option."

Instead of the expensive and ambitious plans for a new visitor centre, car parks, paths across the downland and a land train for people who can't walk so far, currently being pursued by English Heritage which manages the site, and the National Trust which owns thousands of acres of surrounding land, Prof Fowler advocated low tech interpretation at several perimeter points, encouraging walkers, cyclists and horse riders to explore the whole site and its myriad monuments, not just the stone circle itself.

Prof Fowler was giving the keynote address last night at a Council for British Archaeology event celebrating the 20th anniversary of Stonehenge and nearby Avebury becoming a World Heritage Site. Since then argument has never stopped over the site, and its squalid visitor facilities, damned by the parliamentary public accounts committee as "a national disgrace" in 1989. When the most recent public inquiry recommended replacing the road with a long tunnel, the government rejected this on cost grounds and instead called for renewed consultation on all the options.

Meanwhile, a novel solution to why the stone circle was built at all has also just been proposed: the oldest stones were transported 220km from the Preseli hills in Pembrokeshire, because the bronze age builders believed the "bluestone", blue-grey dolomite streaked with white feldspar, had healing powers.

The suggestion that Stonehenge should be seen as a prehistoric Lourdes provoked dropped jaws and some outright laughter from archaeologists at a lecture at the Society of Antiquaries of London. However, Geoff Wainwright, former head of archaeology at English Heritage, and Professor Tim Darvill of Bournemouth University, who have been researching and excavating in Wales for the last five years, insist that bluestones have been used to mark myriad spring heads and wells around the Preseli ridge. Many of these are regarded as having healing powers, and the belief the stone itself had special importance survived into Christian times when it was used for grave markers and ogham inscriptions.

They argue that the bluestones at Stonehenge were retained at every stage of 1,500 years of remodelling the site, even when the far more impressive double decker bus-sized Sarsen stones were brought in, giving the circle its iconic outline.

The many burials around the site may be of people who came for healing, they suggest - with the recently excavated Amesbury Archer, whose spine was contorted by rheumatoid disease, only one of the stones' more notable failures.

guardian.co.uk
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The Amesbury Archer

The Amesbury Archer is 4300 years old. It is the richest burial of this date ever found in Britian.
"This is of the utmost significance" (The British Museum).
The richest Early Bronze Age burial in Britain has been found by astonished archaeologists.
The grave of a mature man was found near Amesbury, Wiltshire - not far from Stonehenge - and contains far more objects than any other burial of this date, about 2,300 BC.

He has been identified as an archer on the basis of stone arrow heads and stone wristguards that protected the arm from the recoil of the bow. There were also stone tool kits for butchering carcasses, and for making more arrowheads if needed.

According to Dr Andrew Fitzpatrick, Project Manager for Wessex Archaeology, what makes the find unique is the quantity and quality of the finds. 'As well as the archery equipment, the man had three copper knives and a pair of gold earrings. We think that the earrings were wrapped around the ear rather than hanging from the ear lobe. These are some of the earliest kinds of metal object found in Britain. They were very rare and the metals they were made from may have been imported. The fact that so many valuable objects have been found together is unique. This association is the most important thing about the find'.

Arrow heads

The grave was found in the course of excavations on behalf of Bloor Homes and Persimmon Homes South Coast. Ron Hatchett, Strategic Land Director of Bloor Homes said 'we have worked closely with the archaeologists and have altered our plans to protect known archaeological sites'. Paul Bedford Senior Land and Planning Manager for the Persimmon region added 'it is impossible to predict a unique and exciting find like this.'

The area around Stonehenge is famous for its rich Bronze Age burials. Andrew Lawson, Chief Executive of Wessex Archaeology, points out that this burial is several hundred years earlier than any of them. 'It raises the question of who this archer was and why his mourners buried so many valuable things with him?'

http://www.this-is-amesbury.co.uk/archer.html
 
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