Eishken windfarm could threaten prehistoric landscape 5/4/09
Numerous prehistoric archaeological finds have been recently discovered around a proposed giant windfarm which the Scottish Government is said to be poised to approve.
A new publication highlights the negative impact the controversial 53-
Local archaeologists Margaret Curtis and her late husband Ron have extensively researched the huge Callanish complex which the Eishken hills are a part of.
Their findings, which are widely accepted by other experts, stress that Callanish is not just one stone circle but actually encompasses around 30 satellite sites in a major prehistoric astronomical observatory across the southern part of Lewis.
Their submission, titled Callanish: Stones, Moon and Sacred Landscape, to a Scottish Government public inquiry over the £185 million wind scheme has now been published.
It coincides with mounting speculation that planning permission will be announced as enterprise minister Jim Mather visits the Hebrides next week to discuss building windfarms and economic issues.
The Curtis' calculate that many of the hills in Eishken are integral to an amazing but rare natural phenomenon which only occurs every two decades.
Instead of being linked to the sun like Stonehenge and numerous other stone circles, the Callanish landscape is now uniquely believed to be a massive astronomical observatory used to calculate the movement of the moon.
Central to the idea is a range of hills earmarked for the turbines which depicts a woman sleeping on her back.
She has various names such as Cailleach na Mòintich (the old woman of the moors) in Gaelic or the more romantic Sleeping Beauty in English.
Every 18.6 years the moon rises over her breasts and shines through the centre of the various viewing points and stone circles.
Observers thousands of years ago travelled dangerous and arduous voyages by sea from across Europe to pay homage to the “sacred” Callanish stones which would have been at the focus of their religion.
The Curtis' recommend "care and careful consideration on the locations of individual turbines where placement would destroy the integrity of prehistoric sites and their sight lines."
They say that new sites which the ancients used to observe the moon's movement have been discovered near Eishken since the wind scheme was originally lodged.
They urge that permission should not be granted to build a chain of turbines on a number of mountains which would destroy the moonscape view.
However, last year Western Isles Council gave the go-
The size of the Eishken scheme was originally set at 133 huge machines but was slashed in a move to ease the proposal through planning and achieve speedy permission. Building more turbines in a second phase is not ruled out.
Developer Nick Oppenheim of Beinn Mhòr Power reckons that around 95 jobs will created to build the scheme but eventually only 10 staff are needed for its operation.
He will hand six sites over to a community windfarm trust established by himself though villagers have to raise around £ 20 million to develop their project.
A third of the community revenues will have to be paid to a council-