Controversy at Stonehenge:
The Development/Preservation Dance II
Dateline: 08/08/99
Out on the mysterious Salisbury plain of south central England, couched in a landscape of circular grave mounds and prehistoric archaeological sites, and smack dab in the middle of two roadways, stands one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. First built around 3000 BC, Stonehenge represents one of the last megalithic monuments, which were built by farming peoples beginning about 1800 years earlier. Megalithic tombs and monuments represent the oldest architectural art form in Europe, and the tombs and stone circles which are included in megalithic monuments date from around 4800-2000 BC, and are found throughout Europe and the eastern Mediterranean.
The most famous of these is inarguably Stonehenge. Stonehenge consists of five settings of enormous, rectangular upright stones and lintels, cross pieces balanced atop. Two of the stone enclosures are of sarsen, a hard sandstone likely quarried from the Marlborough Downs, 18 miles (30 km) north of the site. Two of the enclosures are of bluestone or spotted dolorite, a volcanic material quarried from the Preseli Hills of Wales, some 225 miles (360 km) to the northwest. At the center of the monument is a single stone of Welsh sandstone, also from the Preselis. Many of the 150 or so stones weigh several tons, and their present arrangement, often attributed to the purposeful calculation of astronomical information, is actually the result of several building periods. A long avenue leads to Stonehenge, and the stone circles are surrounded by a ditch and raised bank, made of soft chalk, eroded and less immediately visible today.
A controversy swirls around the stone circles today, which has little to do with the New Age interpretations and alien landing site stories that one can find on the Internet if one searches hard enough. Hundreds of thousands of people pay to visit Stonehenge every year, and hundreds of thousands of others risk life and limb stopping by the side of the A303 and A344 highways to peer at the monument for free. The roads leading to Stonehenge are heavily trafficked, and the visitor center and physical layout of the site's access roads are less than ideal as they intrude into the immediate vicinity.Yet, any improvement of this situation must affect the environs of Stonehenge, which contain both intact and heavily disturbed archaeological sites and features.
Current (1999) plans for Stonehenge, developed by Culture Secretary Chris Smith and Sir Jocelyn Stevens, the Chairman of English Heritage, include closing the A344 highway along the stones, burying the A303 in a tunnel, removing the nearby parking lot and visitor center, and creating a new visitor center outside the site limits. Free shuttle buses would carry visitors along existing roads to a half a mile from the site itself.
So, what's the problem? According to Archaeologists and Development, the plans for burying the A303 highway are "cut and cover," that is, to dig a long trench, build a four lane road, add a roof structure, and plant grass over the top for a length of two kilometers. That plan will widen the road from 13 m to 45 m (20 ft to 72 ft), and massively disturb a wide swath of countryside, damaging or destroying between 5 and 16 known monuments and unknown archaeological deposits as well. A bore tunnel has been proposed, thought to be less destructive, but is considered by some in the government as too expensive.
Stonehenge has been a tourist destination since the 12th century AD, and its importance to Britain is undeniably substantial. The decisions that the government of Great Britain will make in the upcoming months may affect not only the future of Stonehenge, but the future of development projects around the world.
An online bibliography for Stonehenge and the current controversy has been built for this feature, with the kind assistance of Chris Woodford (archdev@geocities.com) of Archaeologists and Development.
See ya next week!
