Fishermen bag a cow horn 5,000 years old
FISHERMEN have found a cow horn that experts believe might be more than 5,000 years old.
Brothers Martin and Richard Morgan discovered the 27in aurochs horn in the estuary of the River Severn last week.
Aurochs were a species of large wild cattle that inhabited Asia, Europe and North Africa and are the ancestor of domestic cattle.
Their horns were so large Vikings drank ale from them. The last aurochs were recorded in Poland in 1627, but experts say they disappeared from the Severn around 3000-1200 BC.
Net fishermen Martin and Richard were inspecting a site off the coast of Sudbrook, Monmouthshire, at low tide when they stumbled across the 6lb relic.
Martin, 59, said: “We found the horn about a week ago after unusual summer storms kicked up the sandbanks along the Severn estuary.
“From a distance, we thought it was a bit of wood and then, as we got closer, it appeared to be some kind of bone.
“Richard is a bit more knowledgeable on this kind of stuff and he got on his knees and told me it looked to be a horn.”
Professor Martin Bell, an archaeological scientist, who teaches at the University of Reading, said: “It looks like it’s from a fully grown adult and it’s clearly well preserved so we’re hoping to go and carbon date it.”
Martin said: “We’ve got it in a barrel of water but we definitely don’t want it to be hidden away for the long run. We’d like people to be able to see it. Maybe in a museum – it’s just incredible.”