Horse skeleton

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This horse skeleton was found in a man's grave at Kiloran Bay on Colonsay in the Inner Hebrides. He was buried in a boat between 875 and 925 with a range of Scandinavian weapons, tools and a pin, together with his horse.

The horse appears to have been between six and eight years old when it died. Its right leg had been severely damaged, suggesting that it had been hamstrung, perhaps in order to hold it still before it was killed.

Horses were sometimes buried with wealthy Viking men and women, along with expensive harness equipment.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-000-099-687-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: Kiloran Bay Viking Burial (multimedia essay)
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  Z.1990.113
• Date: Between 875 and 925
  
• Material: Bone, horse
  Skeleton, horse
  
• Dimensions:
• What: Skeleton, horse
  
• Subject:
• Who:
• Where: Scotland, Argyll, Colonsay, Kiloran Bay
  
• Event:
• Description: Skeleton of a horse excavated from the Viking burial site at Kiloran Bay, Colonsay
  
• References:
  • Anderson, J., 1906 Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot. XLI, 437 - 450 
  • Graham-Campbell, James and Batey, Colleen E. Vikings in Scotland. An Archaeological Survey. Edinburgh: University Press, 1998, pp 118-22. 
  • Grieg, Sigurd. Viking Antiquities in Scotland (=Viking Antiquities in Great Britain and Ireland, Part II, ed. by Haakon Shetelig). Oslo: H. Aschehoug & Co., 1940, pp 48-61, esp. p 60. 
  • Ritchie, Anna. Viking Scotland London: B.T. Batsford Ltd/Historic Scotland, 1993, pp 79-84.
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