Gold-toothed skull found on beach | Northland News | Local News in Northland

A human skull discovered on a Northland west coast beach is being examined by an Auckland forensic pathologist.

The skull - obviously old, but said to still have hair and gristle attached to it - was found by Australian tourists walking on the beach at Glinks Gully, 24km south of Dargaville, on Tuesday.

Northland police Whangarei/Kaipara area commander Inspector Paul Dimery said yesterday a police examination of the scene had uncovered no other bones or body parts.

Asked if police had found any evidence showing the person may have died through foul play, he said: "If there had been any indication of that we would have a homicide inquiry going now.

"If something comes up later we could have an inquiry, but at this stage we are waiting for the pathologist's report."

It was not unusual for human remains to be found in Northland, Mr Dimery said. Some were pre-European, but a pathologist's examination was needed to correctly identify their age.

The Glinks Gully skull was old and had no skin on it, he said.

Local campground operator Geoff Nicols told the Northern Advocate the skull had hair and gristle attached to it and the jawbone contained teeth, one of which appeared to be gold and others which seemed to contain dental fillings.

When found, the skull was sitting in sand dunes about two to three metres above the beach "looking out to sea - just like it had been placed there", he said.

A kaumatua was called to bless the skull before  police removed it.

Mr Nicols said he believed the skull had been exposed by exceptionally high spring tides.

Auckland University Associate Professor Judith Littleton, whose work includes studying human remains found in archaeological excavations, said the presence of dental fillings would indicate the skull was more modern than those she normally examined and was probably post-1800.

But she said she was wary about making further comment because people sometimes made mistakes when describing bones they had found, even confusing human with animal remains.

Seventeen people are currently reported as missing in the Northland police district and the total for New Zealand is  about 600.

A spokesman for police national headquarters in Wellington said that after a year, 99 per cent of people reported missing were located.

If a body was never located the person remained in the police database as a missing person until such time as a body or remains were found, the spokesman said.

"The oldest missing persons file in our system dates back to 1941," he said.