Episode 41
Sweet Track
Thu, 2017-Jun-15 00:18 UTC
Length - 2:19
Direct Link
Welcome to featured Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of the featured Wikipedia article every day.
The featured article for Thursday, 15 June 2017 is Sweet Track.
The Sweet Track is an ancient causeway in the Somerset Levels, England. It was built in either 3807 or 3806 BC and is the second oldest timber trackway discovered in the British Isles. It is now known that the Sweet Track was predominantly built over the course of an earlier structure, the Post Track.
The track extended across the now largely drained marsh between what was then an island at Westhay and a ridge of high ground at Shapwick, a distance close to 2,000 metres (6,600 ft). The track is one of a network that once crossed the Somerset Levels. Various artefacts, including a jadeitite ceremonial axe head, have been found along its length.
Construction was of crossed wooden poles, driven into the waterlogged soil to support a walkway that consisted mainly of planks of oak, laid end-to-end. The track was used for a period of only around 10 years and was then abandoned, probably due to rising water levels. Following its discovery in 1970, most of the track has been left in its original location, with active conservation measures taken, including a water pumping and distribution system to maintain the wood in its damp condition. Some of the track is stored at the British Museum and at the Museum of Somerset in Taunton. A reconstruction has been made for people to walk on, on the same line as the original in Shapwick Heath National Nature Reserve.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:18 UTC on Thursday, 15 June 2017.
For the full current version of the article, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Track.
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