Archaeological excavations at Honeygar in Somerset have revealed a wooden trackway dating to between 3,770 and 3,640 BC, making it nearly 6,000 years old. The structure was preserved beneath layers of peat at the Somerset Wildlife Trust site, where archaeologists had initially been investigating a later prehistoric trackway.
The newly identified walkway was made from birchwood poles and brushwood. Trackways of this kind enabled people to cross the watery marshes that covered parts of the landscape, providing a stable route through difficult terrain during the early Neolithic period.
The excavation was carried out on behalf of Somerset Wildlife Trust and the Species Survival Fund. The team had originally been called in to assess the condition of a prehistoric trackway and a Historic England scheduled monument believed to date to around 4,600 years ago. Instead, the investigation revealed a structure roughly 1,000 years older.
Peat formed in low-oxygen conditions can preserve organic material that would normally decay. At Honeygar, this includes not only the wooden trackway but also remains of plants and animals. Soil samples collected during the excavation are now being examined by environmental archaeologists for pollen, plant remains, insects and microscopic organisms.
The analysis could provide evidence about past climate change, human activity and the character of the historic wetland. The results are also intended to support efforts by ecologists to recreate the wetland habitat that once existed at the site.
Honeygar is the Somerset Wildlife Trust’s first “wilded” site and forms part of a 50-year project to restore lowland peat and create a biodiversity reserve after years of intensive farming. The trust is managing water levels as part of its conservation work, both to prevent the peat from disappearing during increasingly frequent droughts and to protect the archaeological remains it contains.
Bruce Eaton, the excavation’s senior project manager, said the discovery added to understanding of Somerset’s complex ancient landscape. The trackway’s preservation offers researchers an opportunity to study both a prehistoric structure and the environmental evidence held within the peat around it.
