A 6,000-year-old trackway has been uncovered near Glastonbury after archaeologists excavating at Honeygar Farm in Westhay made a discovery far older than they were expecting. The find was made during work to investigate the condition of a prehistoric trackway already believed to date back around 4,600 years.

Instead, teams from Somerset Wildlife Trust, the Species Survival Fund and Wessex Archaeology found a different wooden trackway hidden beneath layers of peat — and said it dates back to the early Neolithic period, between 3,770 BC and 3,640 BC.

The ancient structure, made from birchwood poles and brushwood, was preserved under the peat at Honeygar Farm on the Somerset Levels and Moors, near Glastonbury.

Archaeologists say the waterlogged ground has also preserved pollen, plant remains, insects and microscopic organisms, offering a rare window into thousands of years of climate change and human activity.

That means the discovery is not just about the trackway itself, but about the lost landscape around it.

Bruce Eaton, who led the excavation, said: "Having grown up locally, I have always viewed the moors as a very special place.

"To be involved in a project which not only aims to restore valuable habitat but will also protect vulnerable archaeology has been a privilege."

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The dig had originally been organised to assess the condition of a scheduled ancient monument thought to be around 4,600 years old. But the newly uncovered trackway turned out to be about 1,000 years older.

Archaeologists believe further analysis of soil samples will now help build a fuller picture of the area's history, while also helping ecologists recreate the wetland habitat that once thrived there.

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