Sweet Track - Definition and Overview

The Sweet Track is an ancient causeway in the Somerset Levels, England. It is the oldest known engineered roadway in the world.

The track was discovered in the course of peat digging in 1970, and is named after its discoverer. It extended across the marsh between what was then an island at Westhay, and a ridge of high ground at Shapwick Burtle, a distance close to 2,000 metres (over 1 mile). The track is one of a network of tracks that once crossed the Levels.

Built in the 3800s BC during the Neolithic period, the track consisted of crossed poles of ash, oak and lime (Tilia) which were driven into the waterlogged soil to support a walkway that mostly consists of oak planks laid end-to-end. Due to the wetland setting, the components must also have been prefabricated, and were all cut using stone tools.

Most of the Track remains in its original location, and several hundred metres of it is now actively conserved using a pumped water distribution system. Portions are displayed at the British Museum, London, while a reconstruction can be seen at "The Peat Moors Centre" [1] (http://www.somerset.gov.uk/somerset/cultureheritage/heritage/pmc/), near Glastonbury.

See also

• Archaeology
  • List of famous archaeological discoveries
• UK topics

External links

• Extract from Wetland Archaeology with photos (http://www.archaeology.co.uk/ca/issues/ca172/ca172.htm)