Entire horse skeleton found in archaeological dig
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – An archaeological dig was tucked next to a construction site of a new restaurant in downtown St. Augustine, Fla.
There, St. Augustine Archaeologist Carl Halbirt uncovered a big find: an entire horse skeleton.
"During the first day of the excavation, we ran across a bone," Halbirt said. "We knew we had something, but we didn't know exactly what it was."
He goes on to say that this is the only horse burial the archaeologists have uncovered in this district.
"Here we have the remains of a completely articulated small horse," Halbrit said, pointing to the bones.
He estimates, the horse is 200 years old, based on the ceramic artifacts found near it which date to the late 1700s. It was only a few feet below the ground. Habirt, his team and even the contractor were thrilled.
Gaere MacDonald is the contractor for the new site of The Floridian Restaurant where the horse was discovered.
The city block where the skeleton was found used to be a place for horses 200 years ago. It was the site of the Spanish Dragoon Barracks.
A dragoon "basically is a man on a horse with a gun," said Amanda LaPorta, a colonial cavalry expert.
Essentially, this horse was most likely part of the colonial Spanish cavalry in St. Augustine. LaPorta thinks – based on the skeleton's small size – it was a horse called a Marsh Tacky.
"There's this subgroup of swamp ponies that are descendants of the original horses brought over from Spain."
First Coast News' Jessica Clark found three Marsh Tackies at the Florida Agricultural Museum in Flagler County. They're not extremely common now. They're small but strong. They're usually smaller than 15 hands, which equals 5 feet at the shoulders or withers.
Horse experts say Marsh Tackies were good for the Spanish cavalry because they were fast, they didn't eat too much and they could maneuver the Florida terrain.
"When we think of Spanish horses, we think of these grand horses, these baroque horses… But this horse is small and petite, which confirms the research I've been doing," LaPorta said.
In St. Augustine in the late 1700s, LaPorta said the cavalry didn't do a lot of fighting.
"In general, cavalrymen were messengers. They were spies, and they were guides."
And this horse – whose skeleton was uncovered – must have been special to someone.
"I think there's reverence here," Halbirt said. "They actually laid it out on its side with the legs folded in the chest area. That's a sign of reverence."
It was once a companion that meant a lot to a St. Augustine man – a dragoon – who relied on it.
"It was a cavalry man's life," LaPorta said. "They were a special kind of soldier. The horse was their best friend. It was all important to them."
Usually Halbirt says, "every artifact has a story," but in this case, "every feature has a story."
The horse skeleton was removed and will be kept at the city's archaeology lab, used for comparative work, if any other horse skeletons are found.