 Dendrochronology ( tree @-@ ring dating ) of the timbers has enabled precise dating of the track , showing it was built in 3807 or 3806 BC . This dating led to claims that the Sweet Track was the oldest roadway in the world , until the discovery in 2009 of a 6 @,@ 000 year @-@ old trackway in Plumstead , near Belmarsh prison . Analysis of the Sweet Track 's timbers has aided research into Neolithic Era dendrochronology ; comparisons with wood from the River Trent and a submerged forest at Stolford enabled a fuller mapping of the rings , and their relationship with the climate of the period . 
