© Team Archaeology, Municipality of AlkmaarThe bone floor in a building on the Achterdam, Alkmaar center.
Archaeologists found a part of a floor made of animal bones in Alkmaar, North Holland, the
Netherlands. Experts are intrigued by the discovery, which was made in a building on Achterdam Street. It is the most recent instance of
a type of floor that is rarely seen, even in the province of Noord-Holland.
Archaeologists were given access to the site to examine it during a renovation project, which led to the unusual discovery. Before long, they came upon what looked like the remnants of an ancient tiled floor that had been partially filled in with bones.
Cattle mid-hand and mid-foot bones were found in a pattern created to fill in spaces in an old tile floor. In order to create a discernible pattern, the bones were all meticulously cut to the same height. Some were arranged with their tops facing up, while others had their flat, cut sides facing upward.
Nancy de Jong, one of the archaeologists working on the project, said on behalf of team Archaeology: 'We were very happy to get the chance to see this bone floor with our own eyes. Every time, it remains a privilege to uncover something from a bygone era and add new information to the history of Alkmaar."
Although such floors are very rare, the discovery is not a first for northern Holland. What is interesting, however, is that they have only been found in North Holland. Previously such floors have been found in Hoorn, Enkhuizen, and Edam, and now in Alkmaar. In the Hoorn example, exactly the same thing seems to be going on and the vertically placed bones were also used in combination with a tiled floor.
