Record

Horse skeleton

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from Kiloran Bay, Colonsay, Inner Hebrides

Postcard of Horse skeleton.
000-180-001-440-C
© National Museums Scotland

Horse skeleton

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.

Viking men were sometimes buried with their horses and harness equipment. It may be that they believed a horse was necessary in the afterlife, or perhaps the horse was simply another example of an everyday object included with the grave goods.


Record details

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Online ID: 000-180-001-440-C
Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
Project: 0504: National Museums Scotland Part 2
Project description | View all records in project
Ref: National Museums Scotland  Z.1990.113
Date: Between 875 and 925
Material: Bone, 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 118-22.14:32:53 
  • 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. 
  • Ritchie, Anna. Viking Scotland London: B.T. Batsford Ltd/Historic Scotland, 1993, pp 79-84.
    Find in NLS: Title, Author, Title+Author or British Library: Title, Author, Title+Author
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