Police say Dunnet beach bone is around 1500 years old – but is it human?
Police Scotland says it has closed its investigation of a possible human bone found on Dunnet beach after it was established to be around 1500 years old.
On August 31 last year, German tourists Martin Gauer and Theresa Cremerius found the bone resting between rocks at low tide on the popular Caithness beach and left it for police to investigate after believing it to be of human origin.
Earlier today (April 19), a Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We can confirm that examinations have been carried out on a bone, found at Dunnet Beach, on Thursday, 31 August, 2023. As a result of these examinations, there is no requirement for any further police action.”
The spokesperson was unable to confirm if it was a human bone but said it had been established to be approximately 1500 years old. She added that further inquiries will be made to ascertain if it is from a human skeleton and will forward a response in due course.
In an email about the latest revelation, bone-finder Martin Gauer wrote: “That's just amazing, 1500 years! Woah! Thanks for the update.
“There's actually not really a reason not to believe it's a human bone, looking at the pictures provided. The two doctors I asked were absolutely sure it was.”
Speaking to the Caithness Courier soon after the strange discovery in August last year, Martin said: “My fiancé and I were wandering the beach and I was collecting seashells with a little metal shovel as I discovered the bone between two rocks in the sand – when there was low tide and the stones were reachable."
"I then placed the bone at a nearby wooden shield with coordinates for the police to find. They actually came into our hotel room later that day and got our witness reports."
Many skeletal remains have been washed up on the beach before including large marine mammals and there is evidence of human occupation in the area dating back thousands of years. Human bones have been discovered in the dunes and around the coast at Murkle which have been ascertained to be of Neolithic, Norse and medieval origin.
The location where Martin discovered the bone is tantalisingly close to the alleged site of an ancient chapel called St Coomb's Kirk which lies directly opposite, underneath the dunes. Legend tells how the early medieval chapel and its manse were suddenly overwhelmed with sand during a storm and the remains lie buried under a hillock.
Local archaeologist and chair of Caithness Broch Project Kenneth McElroy said: “You do get quite a few coastal inhumations [burials] in the area, so it's no surprise that an object of antiquity has turned up.”
He added that if the bone is 1500 years old it would date to the Pictish era in Caithness. A carved stone slab recently discovered at Ulbster is thought to be from the Pictish pagan era before Christianity had hit Scotland. It is currently undergoing restoration work in a specialist studio near Edinburgh.
Earlier today, Martin wrote: "We would love to have the bone end up in a museum. Who wouldn't find it amazing to casually find something so old on a vacation trip?"
Police say they will update the Caithness Courier on whether the bone is human or animal.
