The objects found by archaeologists do not provide a complete record of the past. Indeed there are categories of object which are largely missing – organic materials such as wood and leather only survive in certain conditions. Other than structures such as trackways, relatively few Neolithic wooden artefacts have been found, but wood must have been used a great deal.

At this time the necessary tools were made of flint and stone. Axes set in wooden hafts were used to fell trees, and the logs were split using wooden wedges. There were adzes and chisels to work the wood.

The ‘Sweet Track’ (named after the finder) is a raised, wooden walkway built across marshy ground in Somerset nearly 6000 years ago. The way it was built demonstrates a good solution to a particular problem, but it also shows that the builders were aware of the particular properties of different woods, and that woodland was being managed to provide the coppice poles used for the track’s supports.

Finds like the Sweet Track help to fill the gaps in our knowledge and remind us of what might be missing from the archaeological record. Many household objects of the Neolithic period could have been made from wood.