June
04
/ 2017
I have recently been following what may be the world’s oldest road. Remarkably, much of it still survives as an ancient track. Created around 5500 years ago, it predates the Egyptian pyramids by a thousand years and the first major urban civilization of Sumer in Mesopotamia by seven centuries. Those who built it were Stone Age people of the Neolithic period, before the invention of metal tools. Called the Ridgeway, it is 87 miles (140 kilometers) long and runs across central-southern England. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"36789","attributes":{"alt":"Map showing the Ridgeway in southern Britain, possibly the oldest road in the world. (© Graham Phillips)","class":"media-image","height":"397","style":"width: 610px; height: 397px;","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"610"}}]] Map showing the Ridgeway in southern Britain, possibly the oldest road in the world. (© Graham Phillips) The
