ULAS
University of Leicester Archaeological Services

Glaston Early Upper Palaeolithic Project: The Animals

Early Wild Horse (Equus ferus)

The remains of wild horses are frequently found on Palaeolithic sites and often feature in contemporary cave art scenes perhaps as an indication of their abundance in the landscape and their importance to humans.

From examples of cave art the characteristics of the Ice Age wild horse can best be paralleled with those of the rare Przewalski horse. These creatures are dun coloured with short legs, thick necks and stocky bodies with a zebra-like erect black mane.

The presence of horse on the site is likely to represent periods of colder and drier climate. The main evidence from Glaston came from teeth, including one almost complete jawbone, and limb bones. Right are some of the horse teeth recovered from the excavation.  These provide a good example of the remarkable preservation on the site.

Interestingly the horse remains appeared to have escaped the ravages of the hyenas perhaps indicating their introduction to the site was during a different period of activity. Several of the limb bones are shown left, and display distinctive ‘spiral fractures’ which could only have been caused when the bone was fresh, and is characteristic of their deliberate splitting to expose the bone marrow. As yet there have been no confirmed instances of cut marks on the bone but are the ‘spiral fractures’ evidence that the horse remains were left at the site by the early humans?