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Hundreds of years ago, someone in the Netherlands concluded that the best way to fill the spaces in their floor was not with tiles, but with bones.
Municipal archaeologists working in the historic center of the Dutch city of Alkmaar discovered a historic floor partially tiled with animal bones. This rare characteristic, announced in a municipal of December 13 declarationit has only ever been documented in the province of North Holland, usually in 15th century plans.
“We were very happy to have the opportunity to see this bone plane with our own eyes. It is always a privilege to discover something from a bygone era and add new information to the history of Alkmaar”, Nancy de Jong, municipal archaeologist of Alkmaar, he said in the statement.
The bones are part of the cattle’s metacarpals and metatarsals (bones of the foot), and they were all cut to the same size. Despite the use of the floor, the archaeologists were able to detect a type of pattern to the arrangement of the bones. In particular, the bones were placed vertically, with the ridged end or the serrated end facing upwards.
Archaeologists have seen this kind of thing before, having previously discovered similar bony features in floors in Hoorn, Enkhuizen and Edam, with the Hoorn floor showing a particularly similar pattern. Experts are now wondering if it could have been a common 15th century flooring solution or a design in the Netherlands.
Archaeologists have yet to date the newly discovered bone pavement. The corresponding house was built at the beginning of the 17th century, but this does not mean that the plan itself is from the same century. In fact, it was not uncommon for new houses to be built on older foundations, according to archaeologists, which means that the plan could also date from the 15th century, like most other examples of bone floors.
Possibly even more interesting than the date is the question of for what Someone chooses to fill the holes in their floor with bones. The tile was not expensive at the time, the archaeologists explained, so there was no obvious economic advantage to use the bones. Perhaps, then, they were meant only as a filling, and not as tiles. The team also hypothesized that the feature might have made sense in the context of the type of craft produced there.
“There is an awful lot of hidden history still preserved, waiting for our team of archaeologists to come and find them,” said Anjo van de Ven, a municipal representative of Alkmaar for heritage. “I’m always excited when they call me with an update on a discovery. What cool thing have they discovered now? – I think.”
Ultimately, the mystery of the bone plan persists, but I hope not for so long that archaeologists continue to investigate the discovery. Meanwhile, the rest of the world has clearly discovered a new solution for long floors.