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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/heref...289240.stm
Interesting one this. Loads of good prehistoric archaeology threateded by road development. I wonder how much was in the DBA. That councillor quoted at the end seems to be right, you couldn't make a tourist attraction of it. Features just aren't megaliths.
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I don't know the history of this project, but it is a bit harsh to imply that there may have been something wrong with the DBA.
DBAs are very limited in their capabilities, and all curators should know that. Generally speaking, they collate information on known sites and previous investigations, together with a trawl of certain primary sources. The only primary source that could have picked this up is APs.
If the feature was previously unknown and didn't show up on APs, and is unique in Europe, it is asking a bit much to expect it to be predicted in a DBA.
However, you would hope that it would be picked up in pre-determination evaluation - assuming there was some, which I would expect on such a controversial road scheme. However, given the 'keyhole' nature of evaluation trenching, it is quite likely that it wouldn't be recognised for what it is at that stage.
In the final analysis, however, this unique site has only been discovered because of this road scheme. If, as seems likely, it has no potential as a visitor attraction, the discovery of the site and its thorough investigation does represent a gain for the national heritage to balance against the loss caused by its destruction. How much weight you put on each side of that balance is the difficult bit.
1man1desk
to let, fully furnished
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Know this one. The weather has already started to cause problems with preservation. Road or no road it need to be re-burried least it crumble away.
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I always taught vollys that if a feature survived a hard troweling and/or rain, then it was a featrue... if it came away in yer hans or a bit of rain gets did of it...
"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu
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Does anyone know if geophysics was carried out along the route?
'I wanna be a punk rocker but my mammy will ne let me'
Campbell
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You're quite right, 1man. It was the use of what i thought were local nicknames for the feature that made me think it was previously known. but these could have easily been made up by the diggers.
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See also this:
http://www.rotherwasribbon.com/
Looks to me that this site has been seized on by politicians with a particular axe to grind against the road. I'd be interested to see what EH do. Can't see the site becoming the major tourist attraction it's been built up as though.
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I don't want to appear to rubbish the merits of their case, about which I know nothing, but this looks very much like local opponents seizing on an issue to support a campaign against the road.
Having led EIA projects and Public Consultations on controversial road schemes, I am very familiar with this phenomenon, whereby people will seize on any real or imagined environmental issue without any real interest in it just because it can be used as another stick with which to beat those proposing the road. Sometimes they do so while proposing alternatives which would have worse effects on the same environmental issue.
Sometimes the opponents have a good case, sometimes not - but unfortunately, this kind of clutching at straws just undermines their argument.
1man1desk
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NAme is best description of what it looks like, meandering burnt stone. EH had never seen anything like it (one of those head scratchers). Media picked up on it. Anti Roadies picked up on it. Part geophysed. Nuff said.
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If it was geophysically surveyed was it detected? If it was detected was it evaluated?
'I wanna be a punk rocker but my mammy will ne let me'
Campbell
