The Somerset Levels Sweet Track (dated precisely to 3,806/3,807 BC by dendrochronology) contained a jadeite axehead deliberately placed alongside Sussex flint and French pottery—clearly a ritual deposit. Scottish sites show deliberately broken and burnt axe fragments in early chamber tombs. Some were planted in riverbanks like the River Ericht.
Key facts claimed:
- The Sweet Track in the Somerset Levels was constructed in 3,806 or 3,807 BC (determined by dendrochronology) and used for about 12 years
- A beautiful jadeite axehead was deliberately placed alongside an axe head of Sussex flint (from flint mines) and a deposit of French Middle Neolithic 2 pottery
- At Kilmory K Aubrey in southwest Scotland, a deliberately broken and burnt axe head fragment was found in an early chamber tomb
- Inverness railway stores contained a fragment of a deliberately broken axehead
- Axes were sometimes planted in riverbanks, such as along the River Ericht in Scotland
Sources
The Sweet Track and Climate Change | Historic Englandhistoricengland.org.ukThe Sweet Track is a very early Neolithic wooden trackway, built as a single plank raised walkway across almost 2 kilometres of reedswamp.
The Sweet Track - World History Encyclopediaworldhistory.orgArtefacts have been found beside the track, among them, pottery and axe heads including one made of jadeite. Whether they had been deliberately ...
The Sweet Track & Other Trackways - Avalon Marshesavalonmarshes.orgTree-ring dating (dendrochronology) has proved that it was built in the spring of 3806 BC when farming and settled life was just beginning in what is called the ...
Sweet Track: 6,000-year-old Somerset walkway is preserved - BBCbbc.comThe Sweet Track was built at the beginning of the Neolithic period, dating back to the winter or early spring of 3807/3806 BC. Objects found ...
Sweet Track - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.orgThe track is one of a network that once crossed the Somerset Levels. Various artifacts and prehistoric finds, including a jadeitite ceremonial axe head, have ...
AI-generated text · images from the original sources · always verify with the sources.
