Knowth Passage Graves, Ireland

Knowth passage graves, located near the Boyne River in Ireland, are part of the great megalithic complex surrounding Newgrange. The sites are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Bru na Boinne, because of their pristine condition, their solar alignments, ritualistic function and concentrations of megalithic art.

Newgrange, Ireland

Newgrange Entrance Slab

The nearby village of Slane applied for permission to build a freeway overpass over the Boyne River. The road would carry large trucks so that they would no longer have to travel through the village.

Sacred Sites International has protested the plan asking for undergrounding of the road because it would be most visible and audible from the Knowth site and within 500 meters of 44 archaeological and cultural sites. We have just heard from the Irish An Bord Pleanala, the government office that would grant permission for the road. They have asked for 12 detailed additions to the Environmental Impact Statement, including alternative road routes, alternative designs for what is being called the Slane Bypass, “a report of all geophysical and archaeological investigations carried out.”

The magnificent prehistoric painted cave of Lascaux, located near Montignac, France, is in serious danger of being destroyed. The paintings are deteriorating from an overgrowth of black spots from fungus and bacterial growth. You can read more about this at the International Committee for the Preservation of Lascaux.

Urgent-Action Letters are desperately needed to urge the French Minister of Culture to work with the International Committee for the Preservation of Lascaux. Send letters to: Mr. Frederic Mitterand, Minister of Culture, 3 Rue de Valois, 75033 Paris Cedex 01, France.

Please send polite letters making the following points: 1) Please convene a committee of international experts to develop a study on the causes of the damage. 2) An effective scientific treatment must immediately be developed and employed to stop the proliferation of black fungus. 3) There must be scientific supervision of the cave; this is immediately needed and needs to be part of the ongoing management of the site. 4) An overall management plan for the cave should be developed and implemented with independent expert monitoring.