The Patrickholme bone bead is a square sectioned bone fragment with a perforated hollow through the middle[1][2] It was found during archaeological excavations in Patrickholme sand quarry in Lanarkshire, Scotland by J. H. Maxwell in 1949.
It has been tentatively suggested that this might be tangible evidence of a prehistoric unit of measurement.
[1] It measures 33mm and is suggested to date to the Bronze Age.
Due to oxidization its original length is uncertain.
The Patrickholme bone bead was the only one showing a square section that was likely to have been artificially shaped.