Wittmoor Bog Trackways I & II – Hamburg (Duvenstedter Brook)
Wittmoor Bohlenweg · Duvenstedter Brook Trackway
Roman Iron Age to Migration Period·Saxon / Elbe-Germanic·🇩🇪 Hamburg, Norderstedt, Wittmoor Raised Bog, Germany
About
About Wittmoor Bog Trackways I & II – Hamburg (Duvenstedter Brook)
Two parallel plank causeways crossing the 1.8-km Wittmoor raised bog north of Hamburg, excavated 1898–1931 by Hamburg Moors Museum. Trackway I (c.330 CE, Late Roman Iron Age) is a 500-m split-plank oak causeway 2.2 m wide on transverse sleepers; Trackway II (c.500 CE migration period) is 600 m long 1.8 m wide of alder longitudinal planks, 500 m south-southwest and parallel. Dendro and C14 fix the 170-year interval, showing maintenance of bog crossings across the Roman–Migration hiatus. The timbers are conserved in Hamburg Archaeological Museum; the bog itself is a Hamburg nature reserve with boardwalk interpretation.
Why it mattersClassic north German Bohlenweg pair demonstrating Roman to Migration bog-road continuity.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why rebuild parallel rather than repair I
Theories
- 01Geest clan boundary road
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.330 CE (I) and c.500 CE (II)
- Period
- Roman Iron Age to Migration Period
- Culture
- Saxon / Elbe-Germanic
- Builders
- Elbe–Weser wetland communities (pre-Saxon)
- Purpose
- Raised bog arterial linking Geest dry ridges
- Abandoned
- c.600 CE bog growth
- Rediscovered
- 1898 peat cutters; 1904 Dr. Wolff & 1925 Hayen excavation
- Excavation
- Excavated
330 CE
Trackway I split-oak construction
500 CE
Trackway II alder parallel 500 m south
On the ground
Structures & features
53.6985° N · 10.0695° E · 18 m · 2 mapped features
Wittmoor Trackway I (330 CE)
earthwork500-m split-oak causeway 2.2 m wide
53.7002° N · 10.0682° EWittmoor Trackway II (500 CE)
earthwork600-m alder causeway 1.8 m wide 500 m south
53.6995° N · 10.0698° E