#archeologicalsite

Actually, there’s not really much to see on the excavation site of Jericho. At least it’s not as impressive than other sites in the area. But it claims to be “the oldest city of the world”, as our guide it stated proudly too. However, the findings and some walls are dated back around 10’000years BCE. This would be as old as the newer founds in Anatolia, like Göbekli Tepe or Karahan Tepe, both i…

day 22 of folkbruary- stone circle

out of all the stone circles on the isles, i have the most intimate relationship with stonehenge as a result of spending the past year and a bit squatting land nearby in protest of the proposed road expansion and tunnel within the world heritage site. to be in the company of the stones is a truly awe-inspiring experience. the lines between millennia blur, and the space is considered sacred by many across the world. they truly are everyone’s stones, which is why i want to raise the alarm on what our government is up to.

for anyone unaware of what’s going on, the governmental transport body National Highways (formerly highways england) are gearing up to start work on expanding the a303 around stonehenge, which is just one of their many destructive road expansion schemes currently underway. involving the construction of a new dual carriageway, a 4.5km long tunnel, expanding the roundabouts either end and making new flyovers. Despite a high court judge ruling against the project on environmental grounds in 2021, highways are currently handing out contracts to construction and security companies (to take on protesters). autonomous activists continue to hold ground nearby, raising awareness of the environmental impacts of road expansion projects like this.

key issues with this project:

-road expansion & the climate crisis. pretty obvious really. construction companies actively add to carbon emissions with the high use of oil-powered machines, the felling of ancient trees, hedgerows and grasslands and concreting over large swathes of land (most of which is only used in the construction process then sold off as ‘brown sites’ to developers).

-also new roads = new traffic. it’s a documented phenomena, called the ‘induced traffic effect’. if you want to reduce traffic, we should obviously spend this money on improving local public transport schemes.

-a little known fact about the stonehenge world heritage site is that it is the largest untouched chalk grassland habitat in Europe. there are many species native to or reliant upon these plains, such as the adonis blue butterfly, kestrels, hen harriers, etc. that are directly threatened by this scheme.

-UNESCO have warned that they may revoke World Heritage Status if the plans go ahead. In doing so, this opens up the land (especially all the brown sites that they will create with the road project) to developers. Further habitation loss and destruction of sites of archeological interest will follow.

- there’s a chalk aquifer beneath stonehenge that has been supplying humans living on the plains with water since the end of the last ice age. It has also been crucial to the preservation of archeological artefacts in the area. The tunnel plans will bore directly through it, affecting the delicate hydrogeology of the entire site. Untold artefacts will be lost, and carcinogens from the chalk will leak into the local water supply, rivers, etc.

this ended up being a pretty long post, and the first of this nature I’ve made since making this blog, but i couldn’t draw a stone circle without bringing light to the fight on our hands right now. for more information, updates and petitions, check out stonehenge alliance’s website: