A 6,000-year-old trackway at Honeygar Farm, Somerset — comparable in age to the Sweet Track! Made of birchwood poles and brushwood (3,770-3,640 BCE), waterlogged peat preserved pollen, plant remains, and insects revealing millennia of climate change. 🌳 Key facts: Discovered by Somerset Wildlife Trust, Species Survival Fund, and Wessex Archaeology during excavation. Trackway radiocarbon dated to between 3,770 and 3,640 BC. Located in deep blanket bog where waterlogged wetland preserves organic materials.
Neolithic trackway discovered in Somerset is 1,000 years older than Sweet Track
Site mentioned
📍 Section of the Abbot's Way trackway, 500m WSW of Honeygar Farm🌍 Show on the globe
Key facts
- 6,000-year-old trackway discovered at Honeygar Farm in Somerset Levels and Moors
- Uncovered by Somerset Wildlife Trust and Species Survival Fund during excavation
- Trackway made of birchwood poles and brushwood, dating 3,770-3,640 BCE
- Previously known Sweet Track believed to be about 4,600 years old - new trackway is a thousand years older
- Located in area with deep blanket bog - waterlogged wetland preserving organic materials
- Pollen, plant remains, insects and microscopic organisms preserved in peat reveal thousands of years of climate change
- Trackways were used to cross marshes covering British Isles
- Bruce Eaton led excavation; soil samples to be analyzed for landscape history
- Discovery adds to knowledge of Somerset's complex ancient landscape
Sources
Neolithic trackway discovered by archaeologistsbbc.com
A 6,000-year-old trackway that dates back to the early Neolithic period has been discovered by archaeologists. The Somerset Wildlife Trust ...
A 6000-year-old Prehistoric Trackway Discovered in ...bajr.org
Made of birchwood poles and brushwood, it has now been radiocarbon dated to between 3,770 and 3,640 BC. Thanks to the peatlands at Honeygar, ...
6000-year-old Prehistoric Trackway Discovered in Somersetwessexarch.co.uk
Made of birchwood poles and brushwood, it has been radiocarbon dated to between 3,770 and 3,640 BC. Max Dampier is shown using a small wooden ...
Neolithic trackway discovered by archaeologistsaol.com
Archaeologists from Wessex Archaeology said the ancient trackway, which is made of birchwood poles and brushwood, dates back to between 3,770 and 3,640 BC. A ...
6000-year-old prehistoric walkway discovered in Somersetheritagedaily.com
Constructed from birchwood poles and brushwood, it has been radiocarbon dated to between 3770 and 3640 BC. Trackways were raised wooden walkways ...
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