"Many Photos" - Oldest skull ever found will go on display at the museum of London

A treasure hunter sparked a 'cold case' murder investigation after uncovering a human skull on the banks of the River Thames.

However, he was stunned when police informed him that the fragment of bone belonged to a man who lived 5,600 years ago in the Neolithic period.

The section of skull – found by a mudlarker, a person who scours Thames for valuables – was uncovered at low tide in September 2018.

Experts found that the remains were from an 18-year-old man, one of the earliest Londoners, who lived in 3,600 BC.

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Human remains from one of the earliest Londoners which date back to 3,600BC are to go on display at the Museum of London tomorrow. The frontal bone of the skull was found by a mudlarker on the banks of the south bank of the Thames at low tide recently

Martin Bushell had been mudlarking on the Thames when he spotted the jagged object sticking out of the mud, which he though was a piece of pottery. 

But when he picked it up he saw a brow ridge, located above the eye sockets of all primates, and thought he would become embroiled in a murder investigation.

Mr Bushell initially handed the bone to the Metropolitan Police who commissioned a radiocarbon dating service, which revealed it was thousands of years old. 

DC Matt Morse at the Metropolitan Police, said: 'Upon reports of a human skull fragment having been found along the Thames foreshore, Detectives from South West CID attended the scene.

'Not knowing how old this fragment was, a full and thorough investigation took place, including further, detailed searches of the foreshore.

'The investigation culminated in the radiocarbon dating of the skull fragment, which revealed it to be likely belonging to the Neolithic era.' 

After the bone was spotted police investigated the scene for a number of days before handing it to the Museum of London.  

Although only a tiny fragment was found, analysis revealed that the skull would have belonged to a man over the age of eighteen, who died around 5,600 years ago. Martin Bushell had been mudlarking in September when he spotted the jagged object sticking out of the mud

When he picked it up he saw a brow ridge, located above the eye sockets of all primates and thought he would become embroiled in a murder investigation. The find was initially handed in to the Metropolitan Police who commissioned the radiocarbon dating of the bone

Dr Rebecca Redfern, Curator of Human Osteology at the Museum of London, pictured here, analysed the skull. She said that it was a significant find as not much is known about these early Britons

WHAT IS MUDLARKING?

19th century mudlark from Henry Mayhew's book, London Labour & London Poor, 1861

Mudlarking as a profession started in the late 18th and then into the 19th century, and was the name given to people scavenging for things on the riverbank and selling them.

These original mudlarks were often children, mostly boys, who would earn a few pennies selling things like coal, nails, rope and bones that they found in the mud at low tide.

They are described as 'pretty much the poorest level of society, scrabbling around on the foreshore trying desperately to make a living' by Meriel Jeater, curator in the Department of Archaeological Collections and Archive at the Museum of London. 

A mudlark's income was very meagre, and they were renowned for their tattered clothes and terrible stench. A mudlark was a recognised occupation until the early 20th century. 

Dr Michael Lewis, the Deputy Head of Portable Antiquities and Treasure at the British Museum, says that mudlarks' finds can 'alter our picture of the past. 

The mudlarks have found numerous toys (i.e. miniature plates and urns, knights on horseback and toy soldiers) that have actually changed the way historians view the Medieval period.

Over the last 30 years, the Museum of London has acquired over 90,000 objects recovered from the River Thames foreshore which is the longest archaeological site in Britain, but only a few of these artefacts are on display.

Although in 1904 a person could still claim 'mudlark' as his occupation, it seems to have been no longer viewed as an acceptable or lawful pursuit.

By 1936 the word is used merely to describe swimsuited London schoolchildren earning pocket money during the summer holidays by begging passers-by to throw coins into the Thames mud, which they then chased, to the amusement of the onlookers.

More recently, metal-detectorists and other individuals searching the foreshore for historic artefacts have described themselves as 'mudlarks'. 

In London, a license is required from the Port of London authority for this activity and it is illegal to search for or remove artefacts of any kind from the foreshore without one. 

 

The incredibly rare discovery will go on display in the 'London before London' gallery at the Museum of London in the east of the city from tomorrow. 

It will sit among other Neolithic finds that have been discovered along the Thames foreshore.

'It's an incredibly significant find,' said Dr Rebecca Redfern, Curator of Human Osteology at the Museum of London who analysed the skull.

'This is an incredibly significant find and we're so excited to be able to showcase it at the Museum of London. 

'The Thames is such a rich source of history for us and we are constantly learning from the finds that wash up on the foreshore.'

She said that very little was known about these early Britons but it is believed they were on the cusp of agriculture.

'They were probably among the first farmers, but it was a semi-nomadic lifestyle. A mixture of foraging, gathering, and some farming.'  

The find was initially handed in to the Metropolitan Police who commissioned the radiocarbon dating of the bone, which revealed it was thousands of years old. The fragment will sit among other Neolithic finds that have been discovered along the Thames foreshore

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