Representation by Kate Prendergast
- Date submitted
- 18 December 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I am an academic archaeologist by training. My D.Phil research, undertaken at the University of Oxford, focused on evidence for astronomy in the ancient societies of the British Isles. Stonehenge was a key site among the Neolithic sequences I studied.
The evidence that Stonehenge has astronomical properties is no longer contested by any serious archaeologist. It is no longer controversial to regard Stonehenge as a sophisticated instrument for observing and measuring astronomical cycles as observable from Earth. The alignments at Stonehenge to the summer and winter solstices are deservedly famous. They attract attention across the world every year and must have provided the showcase for important rituals in prehistoric societies. Further, we know that the nearby site of Blicks Mead was an important element in a wider Neolithic, Bronze Age and later prehistoric and historic landscape of global importance. It is inconceivable to me how this precious landscape could be threatened or undermined by development in any way. I completely oppose any development that undermines the unique position of Stonehenge and its wider environment. I ask the Inspectorate to please consider the unique significance of this wonderful prehistoric landscape before agreeing to any further development there. While we are fighting to cut carbon emissions to save the planet from our astonishingly destructive practices, it seems inconceivable to me that we could be destroying one of the most precious prehistoric sites in this country in order to build a new road. This should not be allowed to happen, and I urge you to reject the current proposal.