NHER 55966 (Find Spot record) - Probable prehistoric horse skeleton

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Summary

A partial horse skeleton found on Holme Beach. It is thought to date to between the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age.

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Location

Map sheet TF74NW
Civil Parish HOLME NEXT THE SEA, WEST NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Map

July 2011. Field visit.
A near complete animal skeleton found on Holme Beach and reported by [1]. It is thought it was embedded in the intertidal clays and silt exposures that can be seen on the beach. These developed in mudflat and saltmarsh conditions from about 5900–4850 cal BC to about 2130–1770 cal BC (S1).
Photographs were taken by [1].
D. Robertson (HES), 12 August 2011.

August 2011. Field visit.
The skeleton was covered/concealed by sand. A hand-held GPS unit was used to establish an approximate location.
D. Robertson (HES), 12 August 2011.

August 2011. Identification of animal bones from photographs.
Partial (possibly complete) skeletal remains of a horse comprising vertebrae, ribs, mandible and long bones. The identification is based on the presence of a metapodial with distinctive single condyle diagnostic morphological feature of a horse metapodial, unlike deer and cattle that have two. The proximal end of the metapodial has become detached, possibly as it is unfused/fusing, suggesting it could belong to a juvenile animal.
M. Buckley & S. Howard (HES), 12 August 2011.

  • --- Secondary File: Secondary File.
  • <S1> Unpublished Contractor Report: Ames, J. and Robertson, D. 2009. The Archaeology of Holme Beach: An Archaeological Monitoring Survey of the Intertidal Zone, 2003-08. NAU Archaeology. 1444.
  • ANIMAL REMAINS (Late Mesolithic to Beaker - 5900 BC to 1700 BC)
  • MAMMAL REMAINS (Late Mesolithic to Beaker - 5900 BC to 1700 BC?)

Related NHER Records (0)

Record last edited

Nov 18 2014 1:19PM

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