Thompson's of Prudhoe discover something of archaeological interest............
John Rutherford was operating a komatsu 340 long reach excavator with a digging depth of 17m.
The find is in fact a near complete aurochs skull, a species of large wild cattle that became extinct in Britain during the Bronze Age. Ryan Molloy of Thompsons immediately informed the County Conservation Team and the company’s archaeological consultants, Pre-Construct Archaeology, who are based in Durham.
The quarry is located on land, owned by Nunwick Estates , on a bend in the River North Tyne near Simonburn, north of Hexham at a location where the river has moved progressively eastwards over many millennia leaving behind a series of infilled river channels. The aurochs skull has been identified by an expert from Durham University as a large elderly male animal, which is likely to have been a solitary animal, possibly cast out of its herd before chosing this secluded wetland area to die. Close examination of the skull indicates that the dead aurochs became anchored into the riverbed gravels by its horns prior to the channel infilling. The skull has been radiocarbon dated by a research centre in Glasgow to 5670-5520 BC and is therefore of Late Mesolithic date.
Two red deer antlers were also found in the same area as the aurochs skull and one of these produced a very similar radiocarbon date in the sixth millennium BC. At this time northern Britain would have been sparsely occupied by groups of mobile hunter and gatherer communities. Scatters of Late Mesolithic worked flint have been found throughout the Tyne Valley with the Corbridge/Stocksfield area being particularly prolific in this regard. Late Mesolithic worked flint has also been found in the upper North Tyne area during excavations at Kennel Hall Knowe, Kielder.
The Late Mesolithic animal bones from Haughton Strother are of great significance to the region due to their rarity and the remarkably good condition of these items. Jenny Proctor of Pre-Construct Archaeology says that she is very hopeful that the aurochs skull will be displayed to the public in the near future.
