MALI: Tests on a piece of bone found on a Wollongong beach and handed to police have -revealed it is human and more than 4000 years old.
The tiny bone fragment found last year on the ¬Windang foreshore by a fisherman was sent to the Glebe Morgue for forensic testing.
Preliminary tests established the 10cm piece of bone was from the left femur of a male about 190cm tall.
“Once it was established the bone fragment was human, ¬arrangements were made for further testing at Waikato University in New Zealand to try and determine how old the bone was,’’ detective Inspector Glen Broadhead, of Lake ¬Illawarra police, said.
“If it was contemporary, we would have to begin investigating its origins, perhaps as a missing person.’’
The test results came back from the university last month, with carbon dating suggesting the piece of bone was 4000 to 5000 years old.
“We then made arrangements to hand the bone over to the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage,’’ Insp Broadhead said.
Police protocol states that whenever human remains are found, the area and the ¬remains are to be treated as a ¬potential crime scene.
The remains are sent for testing to establish if they are human, and are then dated to establish whether a police ¬investigation is needed.
The bone is expected to be given to the Australian ¬Museum, which will act as caretaker until it is returned to Aboriginal elders after a ¬special smoking ceremony at the museum. It will then be -returned to the area it was found in a ¬private ceremony according to Aboriginal tradition.
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