The earliest bridges

Posted in History, Prehistory on Tuesday, 28 June 2011

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This edited article about bridges originally appeared in Look and Learn issue number 978 published on 6 December 1980.

bridge, picture, image, illustration

Early man learns how to cross water, by Peter Jackson

It is thought that the clapper bridges which are to be found on Exmoor and Dartmoor, consisting of large stones placed on boulders, are of prehistoric origin. Unfortunately, none of them can be dated with any certainty. The oldest surviving bridge to which a date can be given with any accuracy is the stone arch bridge spanning the River Meles at Izmir, in western Turkey. This bridge is known to have been built over 2,800 years ago.

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