Unique find: ancient whale bone excavated in Enkhuizen

A real group gathered in Adrie Vonk’s whale bone shed Groenland on Texel last week. Together with curator Arthur Oosterbaan from Ecomare and archaeologist Michiel Bartels, whale expert Vonk examined the found piece of bone.

Centuries old

In the Texel shed, Adrie and Arthur compared the bone with ribs from different types of whales. Based on this, they concluded that the rib probably belonged to a right whale or a gray whale. A Greenland whale is also possible, but less likely. This species never leaves the Arctic.

Whale bones are not uncommon in archaeological digs, but this discovery was remarkable because of its dating. The bottom layer examined dates from 1580, before the start of Dutch whaling. How did this colossal rib end up in Enkhuizen?

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The remains of a painting on the bone may provide an answer to this question. Archaeologist Bartels suspects that the bone may have hung on a house as decoration. The remainder cannot come from 17th-century Dutch whaling, as it dates from before that time.

To be sure what type of bone it is, a special DNA analysis will soon take place. Some bone marrow was scraped from the bone for this purpose. The best outcome would be if it turned out that the bone came from a gray whale. This species became extinct in the Northern Hemisphere around the 17th century for unknown reasons.

For now, we just have to wait and see what the exact origin of the whale bone is. Bartels: “We may come across a print or painting from 17th-century Enkhuizen and recognize it.”