The Carleton elk is the name given to a 12,000-year-old animal skeleton found in

Carleton, Lancashire Carleton is a village on the coastal plain of the Fylde in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England. It consists of Great Carleton, Little Carleton, Norcross and Whiteholme and is situated close to Poulton-le-Fylde. Other nearby settlements ...

, England, in 1970. It provided the first evidence of humans living on

The Fylde The Fylde () is a coastal plain in western Lancashire, England. It is roughly a square-shaped peninsula, bounded by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the foot of the Bowland hills to ...

as far back as the

Palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

era. It is the earliest evidence of human habitation in Lancashire. John Devine discovered the skeleton during demolition work on his bungalow, along with barbed arrowheads used by hunters. His neighbour, Tony Scholey, went to view the find and helped assemble the bones. Archaeologists excavated the bones, and the skeleton is now on display in the

Harris Museum The Harris Museum is a Grade I-listed building in Preston, Lancashire, England. Founded by Edmund Harris in 1877, it is a local history and fine art museum. History In the 19th century, it became legal to raise money for libraries by local ...

in Preston. It was nicknamed "Horace" by Scholey."50 years since the discovery of Horace the ice age elk in Carleton"
– ''

Blackpool Gazette The ''Blackpool Gazette'' (locally marketed as simply ''The Gazette'') is an English daily newspaper based in Blackpool, Lancashire. Published every day except Sunday, it covers the towns and communities of the Fylde coast. It was founded as '' ...

'', 24 July 2020 A

Wetherspoons J D Wetherspoon (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a British pub company operating in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim ...

pub in nearby Poulton is named "the Elk", referencing the find, despite the skeleton not being found in that town."The Poulton Elk"
– Wetherspoon

References

{{reflist Archaeological sites in Lancashire History of Lancashire Borough of Wyre 1970 archaeological discoveries Fossils

See also

References