Archaeologists in Alkmaar, North Holland have uncovered a rare and eerie floor constructed entirely from animal bones believed to date back to the 15th or 16th century.
The discovery, announced by Heritage Alkmaar on December 13, was made in a 16th-century building in Achterdam, a red light district.
While the house itself was built around 1609, experts speculate that the bone floor might belong to an earlier foundation. Archaeologists were astonished to find sections of the floor where missing tiles had been replaced with meticulously arranged cattle bones, all cut to uniform lengths.
This unique find is one of only a few bone floors ever documented in the Netherlands, with similar examples previously unearthed in Hoorn, Enkhuizen, and Edam, all located in North Holland.
Heritage Alkmaar described the discovery as “very special,” highlighting the precision with which the bones were arranged in a discernible pattern.
That’s a very good and practical idea.