The Sweet Track is an ancient causeway in the Somerset Levels, England. It is the oldest known engineered roadway in the world. In modern usage, a causeway is a road elevated by a bank, usually across a broad body of water or wetland. ... The Somerset Levels (or Somerset Levels and Moors as they are less commonly, but more correctly, called) is a sparsely populated wetland area of central Somerset, England, between the Quantock and Mendip hills, consisting of marine clay levels along the coast, and the inland (often peat based) moors. The total... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my [birth]right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages English (de facto) Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked... A typical rural county road in Indiana, USA, where traffic drives on the right. ...

The track was discovered in the course of peat digging in 1970, and is named after its discoverer, Ray Sweet. It extended across the marsh between what was then an island at Westhay, and a ridge of high ground at Shapwick, a distance close to 2,000 metres (over 1 mile). The track is one of a network of tracks that once crossed the Levels. 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... Freshwater marsh in Florida In geography, a marsh is a type of wetland, featuring grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, and other herbaceous plants (possibly with low-growing woody plants) in a context of shallow water. ... Shapwick is a village in east Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour five miles south east of Blandford Forum and eight miles north of Poole. ...

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 mainly consists of oak planks laid end-to-end. (40th century BC - 39th century BC - 38th century BC - other centuries) (5th millennium BC - 4th millennium BC - 3rd millennium BC) Events Construction in England of the Sweet Track, the Worlds first known engineered roadway. ... The Neolithic (or New Stone Age) was a period in the development of human technology that is traditionally the last part of the Stone Age. ... Species Many, see text. ... Species See List of Quercus species The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of several hundred species of trees and shrubs in the genus Quercus, and some related genera, notably Cyclobalanopsis and Lithocarpus. ... Species About 30; see text Tilia is a genus of about 30 species of trees, native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, in Asia (where the greatest species diversity is found), Europe and eastern North America; it is absent from western North America. ...

Due to the wetland setting, the components must also have been prefabricated. A subtropical wetland in Florida, USA, with an endangered American Crocodile. ... Prefabrication is the practice of manufacturing the parts of an assembly in one location, ready for them to be assembled in another place. ...

Most of the Track remains in its original location, and several hundred metres of it are now actively conserved using a pumped water distribution system. Portions are stored at the British Museum, London, while a reconstruction can be seen at the Peat Moors Centre near Glastonbury. The main entrance to the British Museum. ... For other uses, see London (disambiguation) and Defining London (below). ... Map sources for Glastonbury at grid reference ST5039 Glastonbury is a small town in Somerset, England, situated at a dry spot on the Somerset Levels, 30 miles south of Bristol. ...

See also

• Archaeology
  • List of famous archaeological discoveries
• UK topics

Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech/discourse) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... List of famous archaeological discoveries Most of the archeological discoveries listed below had significance for the development of archaeology as a discipline and added to human knowledge. ... This is a list of topics related to the United Kingdom. ...

External links

• Grid reference ST4240
• Somerset County Council - Peat Moors Centre
• Extract from Wetland Archaeology with photos
• The Willows, at the heart of the Avalon Marshes