Archaeologists in the Dutch city of Alkmaar uncovered a 15th-century floor made partially of animal bones during renovation work on a historic building. The discovery, which surprised experts, offers a rare glimpse into past building practices and has prompted ongoing investigations.
During excavation work on a 17th-century building on Achterdam Street in the historic center of Alkmaar, municipal archaeologists encountered what appeared to be the remains of an old tiled floor partially filled with bones. According to Arkeonews, archaeologists were granted access to inspect the site during renovations, leading to this exceptional find.
The floor is made of metacarpal and metatarsal bones of cattle, meticulously sawn to exactly the same height. The bones were arranged in a pattern to fill gaps in the worn tiled floor, with some placed with their tops facing up and others with their flat, cut sides upward, forming a discernible pattern.
"The discovery of this floor is incredibly interesting," said Anjo van de Ven, the heritage advisor of Alkmaar, as cited by GEO France. "There are still many hidden stories waiting for our team of archaeologists to uncover them. Every time they call me with a new discovery, I wonder: what incredible thing have they found this time?"
"We were very happy to have the opportunity to see this bone floor with our own eyes," said fellow archaeologist Nancy de Jong, according to Focus Online. "They may have fit well with the craft being practiced in this space, or they could have been an inexpensive way to complete the floor," she added, as reported by HeritageDaily.
This type of bone flooring is exceedingly rare. The only comparable examples have been found in cities within the same North Holland region, such as Hoorn, Enkhuizen, and Edam, always in combination with tiles generally dated to the 15th century.
Newsweek reported that researchers are currently investigating how old the newly uncovered example might be.
One intriguing aspect of the discovery is the question of why bones were used instead of tiles to fill parts of the floor.
The house currently standing at the location was built around 1609, and it is possible that it was constructed on the foundations of an older structure, a common practice at the time.
In similar findings in Hoorn, the vertically placed bones were also used in combination with a tiled floor.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.