Stonehenge road plan concerns

Construction of a tunnel past Stonehenge could spell the loss of a “unique” site which can trace the presence of people back to the last Ice Age, experts have warned.

Perfectly preserved hoofprints of wild cattle known as aurochs have recently been found at excavations a mile and a half from the famous stone circle in Wiltshire, University of Buckingham archaeologist David Jacques said.

The 6,000-year-old hoofprints, preserved in what appears to be a ritualistic manner, are the latest in a wealth of finds in a decadelong dig at Blick Mead, which Professor Jacques said formed a “national archive of British history”.

But the tunnel, and a flyover close to the Blick Mead excavations which could also form part of the roadworks to improve the A303, could irrevocably damage the site, he said.

The Government has backed plans to put the A303 into a tunnel as it passes the neolithic stone circle as part of measures to ease congestion and improve the setting of Stonehenge.

But opponents warn the plans, which include eastern and western entrances to the tunnel within the World Heritage site and a possible flyover at the Countess Roundabout near Amesbury, could harm the rich archaeological landscape.

Professor Jacques said impacts on the Blick Mead site had not been assessed, despite it being the only place in Britain that can trace people living there since the end of the Ice Age, around 8,000 BC.