Campen Plank Road – Emsland Bog Trackway (Landegge)
Landegge Bohlenweg · Emsland Bohlenweg XV
Early Iron Age (Hallstatt C)·Ems-Hunte Iron Age (Pre-Roman)·🇩🇪 Lower Saxony, Emsland, Campen Moor near Landegge, Germany
About
About Campen Plank Road – Emsland Bog Trackway (Landegge)
A 1.2-km oak plank corduroy across Campen Moor in the Emsland, dendro-dated to 668 BCE — the earliest dated Bohlenweg in Lower Saxony. The trackway is 2.4 m wide of 2.8-m split oak planks laid transversely on two longitudinal alder bearers, pinned with birch pegs, crossing a 1.2-km raised bog between the Ems and Hümmling Geest. Excavated 1987–1993 by Mamoun Fansa and H. Hayen's successor team during Emsland peat industry salvage, the timbers showed Iron Age woodworking with bronze axe finishing. Preservation in Sphagnum bog is exceptional; 320 m are conserved at the Emsland Moor Museum Geeste.
Why it mattersEarliest dated bog plank road in NW Germany; model for Iron Age Geest–Moor mobility.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Ems vs Hümmling political link
Theories
- 01Cattle drove across moor
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.668 BCE (dendro)
- Period
- Early Iron Age (Hallstatt C)
- Culture
- Ems-Hunte Iron Age (Pre-Roman)
- Builders
- Emsland Geest bog-edge communities
- Purpose
- Geest-to-Geest moor arterial for cattle and peat transit
- Abandoned
- c.200 BCE
- Rediscovered
- 1987 peat industry salvage; 1993 Fansa full excavation
- Excavation
- Excavated
668 BCE
Oak felling (dendro Hallstatt C)
1987
Emsland salvage exposes 1.2 km
On the ground
Structures & features
53.4000° N · 7.3100° E · 8 m · 2 mapped features
Campen Main Corduroy
earthwork1.2-km split-oak corduroy 2.4 m wide
53.4010° N · 7.3120° ENorthern Terminal Approach
earthwork40-m approach ramp with alder bearers
53.4050° N · 7.3180° E