The Roman Horse Burial of Norton

Excavations at the site, led by Kevin MacDonald and Stuart Brookes and Archaeology South-East colleagues James Alexander and Jodie Haggerty-Howard, have focused on the western ‘yard’ and boundary ditches of the villa complex, which appears to be of relatively early foundation, perhaps corresponding to the construction of a line of small forts in the post-Boudican revolt era in its vicinity, the nearest 5km away at Ixworth, dating to c.AD 60-100.

Part of the excavations in 2023 dealt with the southern entrance to the Villa complex. In the eastern ditch terminus the intact skeleton of a horse was uncovered.

This inhumation was unusual in a number of ways:

• The horse faces eastwards in a running posture, its forelegs extended and rear legs bent, its head level, not unlike the pose of the Uffington White Horse. This was a carefully positioned, with little evidence of natural rigour mortis or subsidence of any part of the body. It has been suggested that it could have been buried on a platform.
• A star shaped crinoid fossil was recovered at its lower neck. While these do occur naturally in this part of Suffolk no other fossils of this type were found in any of our excavations and such a random placement would be a great coincidence.
• The entire skeleton has a distinctive red stain which is evident on both sides of the skeleton. Tests have shown this to be a fine and fugitive powder of iron oxide. It is still unclear how this substance was present on the skeleton and it appears on no other bones (household waste) or artefacts in this ditch. One explanation might be that the horse was wrapped in a leather or textile shroud, dyed red with some form of iron oxide, which subsequently transferred itself to the skeleton.
• Other than small Roman ceramic fragments in the ditch fill, the only associated artefacts are brass tacks and small iron nails. These tacks and nails may have held the horse cadaver within a covering or to some form of platform. It should be noted, however, that no traces of textile, leather or wood were found in association with the skeleton.
• In terms of the skeleton itself, reconstructed withers heights estimations fall between 147 and 151cm (in the range of 14.4-14.8 hands) - larger than a modern pony, but smaller than a thoroughbred. This is also larger than the largest recorded British Iron Age or Early Medieval horse breeds. It is however well within the size range of larger Roman Breeds documented at Roman military settlements in the UK.

View the 3-D model of the horse burial on Sketchfab

Collagen preservation in the horse’s bones was poor, so a C14 determination was carried out on tooth collagen from one of the horse’s incisors. It produced a calibrated date of AD 28-214, with a one sigma (68.2%) probability of AD 65-130. Isotopic data suggest that the horse was bred and lived locally to the east of England. 

According to Kevin:

“Interpretively, based on all strands of evidence, the horse was a carefully prepared foundational offering made at or near the initial settlement of this villa late in the first century AD. The horse’s burial posture potentially taps into earlier British Equine symbolism. Its large size suggests a locally bred military animal of imported (post - Iron Age) ancestry. It is tempting to infer that the villa’s founder may have been a retired military veteran, rewarded for his service with this land, and thus a ‘colonist’ in the Imperial Roman sense. In its rarity and archaeological context it is a find of national importance.” 

The Norton Horse burial has recently featured on the BBC’s ‘Digging for Britain’ (Series 12, Episode 1, focusing on the east of England). 

Other Institute researchers involved in excavation and post-excavation include Murray Andrews, Rhiannon Stevens, and Lucy Sladen as well as Archaeology South-East colleagues.

Other discoveries

Murray Andrews indicated:

“Our training excavations at Norton have produced literally bucketloads of Roman finds: from potsherds to animal bones, coins, brooches, and more. Each object opens up a new window on life at the villa in the Roman period, from its emergence in the late first century up to its abandonment in the fourth century. One of my favourite pieces is a broken potsherd inscribed on the base with the letters FN. Perhaps they're the owner's initials - a way of reminding others to keep off his stuff!"