Hatfield Moor Neolithic Trackway (Lindholme Trackway) – South Yorkshire
Lindholme Trackway · Humberhead Trackway
Late Neolithic·Late Neolithic Humberhead communities (Grooved Ware)·🇬🇧 England, South Yorkshire / Lincolnshire, Hatfield Moor, Humberhead Peatlands, United Kingdom
About
About Hatfield Moor Neolithic Trackway (Lindholme Trackway) – South Yorkshire
Two adjacent buried pine trackways (Lindholme North 821 m and South 750 m) on Hatfield Moor, Humberhead Peatlands, dendro-dated to 2435 BCE by Pinus sylvestris chronology — the longest Neolithic trackways in England. Built of transverse pine trunks (0.25 m diam.) laid as corduroy over Sphagnum bog to connect Lindholme Neolithic flint scatter island to dry ground, the trackways predate the Sweet Track by 1,300 years in pine form. Discovered 1971 by peat cutters and excavated 1972–2010 by Paul Buckland (Sheffield) and Bristow, the timbers show coppiced oak posts and worked pine with axe marks. The trackways demonstrate Neolithic bog crossing technology before the Bronze Age timber tradition.
Why it mattersLongest Neolithic trackway in Britain; dendro-fixed pine trackway predating Sweet Track.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Lindholme Island settlement vs ritual
Theories
- 01Fen-edge hunter access
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.2435 BCE (dendro)
- Period
- Late Neolithic
- Culture
- Late Neolithic Humberhead communities (Grooved Ware)
- Builders
- Lindholme Island bog-edge communities
- Purpose
- Bog crossing to island flint scatter fen-edge settlement
- Abandoned
- c.2200 BCE bog growth
- Rediscovered
- 1971 peat cutters; 1972 Buckland survey
- Excavation
- Excavated
2435 BCE
Lindholme North pine felling (dendro)
1971
Trackway exposed in peat cutting
On the ground
Structures & features
53.5450° N · 0.9500° W · 6 m · 2 mapped features
Lindholme North Trackway
earthwork821-m pine corduroy dendro 2435 BCE
53.5460° N · 0.9510° WLindholme South Trackway
earthwork750-m parallel pine trackway
53.5430° N · 0.9490° W