Stonehenge delay: Excuse Henge and Scary Henges

There is a (tiny) minority of archaeologists who seem to have taken the Government at its word about why the decision has been delayed and are reacting by saying “an archaeological discovery far from any proposed roadworks has no bearing on the tunnel.”  It’s true, but so what? The telling point is that the Government knows the new discovery will be unaffected yet they are implying they’ve postponed a final decision in order to consult further – on something which they and everyone else know won’t be affected! 

Everyone should ask WHY? Perhaps the new monument should be named Excuse Henge, something being used to buy time to devise a way out of the financial, archaeological, and reputational mess in which the Government finds itself?

Their particular fear is what we can term Scary Henges, other features that may be unearthed and then bulldozed away. No-one can assure them it won’t happen in some way, there would be lots of destruction and when it happened the outrage would reverberate around the world. A reputation for acting like a banana republic is something they might wish to avoid just now.

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