Editing Sweet Track (section)

==Conservation==
Most of the track remains in its original location, which is now within the [[Shapwick Heath]] [[biological Site of Special Scientific Interest]] and [[National Nature Reserve]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatedareas/nnr/1006131.aspx|title=Shapwick Heath NNR|publisher=Natural England|access-date=31 January 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100120055332/http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatedareas/nnr/1006131.aspx|archive-date=20 January 2010}}</ref> Following purchase of land by the [[National Heritage Memorial Fund]], and installation of a water pumping and distribution system along a {{convert|500|m|ft|adj=on}} section, several hundred metres of the track's length are now being actively conserved.<ref>{{cite journal|title=4.20.4 The Sweet Track, the Brue Valley, Somerset: assessment of in situ preservation|journal=Archeology Review|year=1996–1997|url=http://www.eng-h.gov.uk/ArchRev/rev96_7/strack.htm|access-date=7 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529201047/http://www.eng-h.gov.uk/ArchRev/rev96_7/strack.htm|archive-date=29 May 2010}}</ref> This method of preserving wetland archaeological remains (maintaining a high water table and saturating the site) is rare.<ref>{{cite book|title=Enduring Records. The Environmental and Cultural Heritage of Wetlands|publisher=Oxbow Books|pages=277–286|last1=Van de Noort|first1=Robert|last2=Chapman|first2=Henry|last3=Cheetham|first3=James|editor=B. Purdy|location=Oxford|chapter=Science-based conservation and management in wetland archaeology: the example of Sutton Common, UK|isbn=978-1-84217-048-9|year=2001}}</ref> A {{convert|500|m|ft|adj=on}} section, which lies within the land owned by the [[Nature Conservancy Council]], has been surrounded by a clay bank to prevent drainage into surrounding lower peat fields, and water levels are regularly monitored.<ref>{{cite book|last=Purdy|first=Barbara A.|title=Wet site archaeology|year=1990|publisher=CRC Press|place=Boca Raton, FL|isbn=978-0-936923-08-6|page=99|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RqFiYB2KI0YC&q=Sweet+track+archeology&pg=PA99}}</ref> The viability of this method is demonstrated by comparing it with the nearby Abbot's Way, which has not had similar treatment, and which in 1996 was found to have become dewatered and desiccated.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Cox|first1=Margaret|last2=Earwood|first2=Caroline|last3=Jones|first3=E.B. Gareth|last4=Jones|first4=Julie|last5=Straker|first5=Vanessa|last6=Robinson|first6=Mark|last7=Tibbett|first7=Mark|last8=West|first8=Steven|title=An Assessment of the Impact of Trees upon Archaeology Within a Relict Wetland|date=October 2001|volume=28|issue=10|pages=1069–1084|doi=10.1006/jasc.2000.0642|journal=Journal of Archaeological Science|bibcode=2001JArSc..28.1069C }}</ref> Evaluation and maintenance of water levels in the Shapwick Heath Nature Reserve involves the Nature Conservancy Council, the [[Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs]], and the Somerset Levels Project.<ref name="sshersweettrack"/>

Although the wood recovered from the Levels was visually intact, it was extremely degraded and very soft. Where possible, pieces of wood in good condition, or the worked ends of pegs, were taken away and conserved for later analysis.<ref>{{Harvnb|Coles|Coles|1986|p=107}}</ref> The conservation process involved keeping the wood in heated tanks in a solution of [[polyethylene glycol]] and, by a process of evaporation, gradually replacing the water in the wood with the wax over a period of about nine months. After this treatment the wood was removed from the tank and wiped clean. As the wax cooled and hardened, the artefact became firm and could be handled freely.<ref>{{Harvnb|Coles|Coles|1986|p=108}}</ref>

A section of the track on land owned by [[Fisons]] (who extracted peat from the area) was donated to the [[British Museum]] in London.<ref name="bm">{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_prb/s/section_of_the_sweet_track.aspx|title=1986,1201.1–27 Sweet Track exhibition highlight|publisher=[[British Museum]]|access-date=19 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429101940/https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_prb/s/section_of_the_sweet_track.aspx|archive-date=29 April 2011}}</ref> Although this short section can be assembled for display purposes, it is currently kept in store, off site, and under controlled conditions. A reconstructed section was displayed at the [[Peat Moors Centre]] near [[Glastonbury]]. The centre was run by the Somerset Historic Environment Service, but was closed in October 2009 as a result of budget cuts imposed by [[Somerset County Council]]. The main exhibits are extant, but future public access is uncertain. Other samples of the track are held in the [[Museum of Somerset]].<ref name="digitaldigging"/>

Sections of the track have been designated as a [[scheduled monument]],<ref name="sshersweettrack"/> meaning that it is a "nationally important" historic structure and [[archaeological site]] protected against unauthorised change.<ref name="schedule">{{cite web|title=Scheduled monuments policy statement|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/scheduled-monuments-policy-statement|publisher=Gov.uk|access-date=21 November 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122112341/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/scheduled-monuments-policy-statement|archive-date=22 November 2015}}</ref> These sections are also included in [[Historic England]]'s [[Heritage at Risk Register]].<ref>{{cite web|title=South West England|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/HAR_Register_South_West_2009/southwest-2009-har-register.pdf|work=Heritage at Risk|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=30 June 2010|page=183|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609181327/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/HAR_Register_South_West_2009/southwest-2009-har-register.pdf|archive-date=9 June 2011}}</ref>