200-year-old fish — not intended for eating — unearthed at iconic London site

Aspen Pflughoeft
Mon, April 10, 2023 

Boring a hole into the ground beneath an iconic U.K. landmark, archaeologists spotted something. Looking closer, they realized it was a 200-year-old fish — but not one intended as food.

The find came as archaeologists are surveying and excavating the Palace of Westminster in London to prepare for restorations, the Houses of Parliament Restoration and Renewal said in an April 7 news release. The outside of the iconic building boasts Big Ben while the inside houses both chambers of the U.K. Parliament.

While digging a hole under the House of Lords, archaeologists spotted a 200-year-old fish carved from animal bone, the release said.

Photos show the slim, ivory-colored fish with a notch for a mouth, fins carved on the side and a chipped tail fin.

Michael Marshall, a team leader with the Museum of London Archaeology, identified the find as “a gaming counter,” he said in the release. “Counters like this were commonly used at gaming tables in Britain during the 18th and 19th century and were used as tokens for scoring.”

The antique fish toy.

The fish toy is mentioned in Jane Austen’s novel “Pride and Prejudice” Marshall said, “where Lydia Bennet is described as winning and losing fish while playing games of ‘lottery tickets.’”

It’s unclear if the fish token was used for keeping score in a variety of card games or just some specific ones.

Still, Diane Abrams, one of the project’s lead archaeologists, described the fish as “wonderful,” according to the release.

“It certainly highlights the value of the Palace’s ‘hidden’ archaeology beneath its buildings and spaces and how even a single find such as this can contribute to its overall sense of history and our literary past,” Abrams said.

Excavations are ongoing at the Palace of Westminster.