Road plans put Stonehenge status at risk

The Guardian ^ | Wednesday June 14, 2006 | David Adam

[SunkenCiv]

Sarah Staniforth, historic properties director with the trust, said the national committee of Unesco, which administers world heritage sites, had reviewed the situation and Stonehenge could be taken off the list because of poor traffic management. The trust's warning comes as ministers prepare to decide what to do to ease congestion on the A303, which passes the ancient stones... The issue was not the preservation of the stones but protection and restoration of the surrounding site, believed to hold undiscovered archaeological treasures. "We cannot stand by and allow a second-rate solution to damage for ever one of the world's most important landscapes."

[SunkenCiv]

The issue is, UNESCO is a POS.

[SunkenCiv]

Will ping tomorrow or thereabouts. :')

[dfwgator]

"But it says here, 18 inches high, on the napkin!"

[SunkenCiv]

New glacier theory on Stonehenge
BBC News | June 13, 2006
Posted on 06/13/2006 10:27:54 AM EDT by billorites
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1648503/posts

[jddqr]

What's next, Rome closing the street adjacent to the Coliseum? France closing the Champs D'Elysees? These characters remind me of the people bemoaning global warming. It took years for these masterpieces to be constructed and they won't collapse due to a bunch of cars driving nearby.

[Jaysun]

Stonehenge was a military fortification. If it lines up with the sun it's because the sun and resulting shadows provided ready made straight lines and reference points.

[SunkenCiv]

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

[RightWhale]

If the Parthenon frieze were not safely in the museum in London it would have dissolved already due to air pollution in Athens. These old things speak to us of important things, but they won't speak if they are reduced to rubble.

[mass55th]

From my May 5th visit to Stonehenge:

[RightWhale]

The stones look weathered, but do they look like they were ever actually squared up and finished?

[mass55th]

Not sure I understand the question you are asking. My first impression when I saw them was that they didn't look as big as I had thought they were. Of course there is a rope barrier which prevents anyone from gaining a closer look at them.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks! Nice photo.

Inigo Jones on Stonehenge
http://wwp.greenwichpast.com/vip/architects/jones.htm

The rustic quality of the 16th-century restoration, was transformed by the architect Inigo Jones in the 17th century into a model of order and precision. Incapable of thinking that Druids could have been responsible for such an imposing structure, Jones identified Stonehenge as a Roman Temple and 'restored' it accordingly.

[Serb5150]

It took years for these masterpieces to be constructed and they won't collapse due to a bunch of cars driving nearby.

How true... if it weren't for cars, we wouldn't have Carhenge.

[FreedomCalls]

All is not as it appears. The columns were rebuilt in the first half of the 20th Century, the stones repositioned, and set in concrete foundations.

http://www.ufos-aliens.co.uk/cosmicstonehenge.htm

[RightWhale]

Just wondering since some of the horizontal stones have edges and the uprights seem rounded. Weathering might explain it, especially if there were many years of freezing weather. But England hasn't been freezing for a long time, so perhaps the stones were left rough in the first place. There is less erosion on the Sphinx. The pyramids of Gaza were surfaced in granite and show relatively almost no weathering except the soft stone considering they are supposedly about as old.

[Caramelgal]

From reading the article, the problem is not the existing road; it’s the traffic congestion on the existing one and the proposed construction of a new road and or tunnel.

“The issue was not the preservation of the stones but protection and restoration of the surrounding site, believed to hold undiscovered archaeological treasures.”

Stonehenge is a complex much larger than the stone circle everyone knows.

And I think I’d have a problem with a four-lane tunnel under the Coliseum or a monorail through the Champs D'Elysees

[Caramelgal]

I’ve never heard that theory before. I am curious as to your source.

From all that I’ve read and learned over the years, Stonehenge was a ceremonial site of significance and the site was used over hundreds of years. It started out as a rather simple earth ditch and barrow. The surrounding area is loaded with similar structures and burial mounds.

I recently read that if the surrounding complexes are a kin to churches, then Stonehenge is a cathedral.

As far as being a military fortification, sorry, I don’t see that. It’s too small in circumference and doesn’t really provide much cover. How would the shadows help and what would they be used for? Stonehenge soldier – “Hey! You, approaching enemy soldier, would you mind moving a bit to the left so you’ll be in line with the sun and this big rock here. Thanks so much for being a sport ole chap.”

[Jaysun]

As far as being a military fortification, sorry, I don’t see that. It’s too small in circumference and doesn’t really provide much cover. How would the shadows help and what would they be used for? Stonehenge soldier – “Hey! You, approaching enemy soldier, would you mind moving a bit to the left so you’ll be in line with the sun and this big rock here. Thanks so much for being a sport ole chap.”

I think Stonehenge is but a paltry fraction of the original defenses, the stones form the "skeleton" of what was a wooden structure. Stone / wood military structures were common in England at the time. The higher stones in the center could have pitched the roof and the horseshoe shape could have made for a "lookout" opening, a command center, officer's quarters, who knows? Perhaps the north and south barrows might have also been used for one of these purposes. It might have resembled this timbered structure discovered in southwest England about 10 years ago.


Ditches and barrows are common fortifications. There's reason to believe that the ditch served as a moat (compacted layer of chalk and such to keep water in, for example).

As for the size, there are other forts of comparable size. Compare Stonehenge with Platt Hill in Edinburgh. As you said, it started out as an earth ditch and barrow and was roughly 350 feet in diameter. It also had 50 some odd "Aubrey holes" which I believed served to hold post for a fence or wall around the fortification.

Consider "Castle Law" near Abernathy Scotland. It's oval shaped (measuring only 90 x 45 meters), believed to have been built in three phases, features a smaller oval inside the outer one, and a single passageway leads to a horseshoe shaped structure in its center.

Stonehenge is a fort. My source for this theory is me.

[SunkenCiv]