3000 year old animal horn found on Welsh beach
An animal horn believed to be 3,000 years old animal has been found on a beach in Gwynedd, Wales, following the recent storms.
The horn was found by engineer Derfel Hughes from Rhos Isaf as he walked at Dinas Dinlle, near Caernarfon, reports the South Wales Evening Post.
"Finding it was a total fluke," Mr Hughes told the paper.
"When I looked closer I thought it might be a tusk, like the one you would find on an elephant."
According to experts at the National Museum of Wales, the horn belonged to a species of giant wild cattle called aurochs which became extinct in the 17th Century.
Aurochs were grazing cattle which stood two metres tall. They were much bigger than modern domestic cattle.
According to the BBC, they were found in many parts of Britain and much further afield but became extinct when the last known female animal died in a forest in Poland in 1627.
Genetic studies have suggested most modern livestock are descended from cattle that arrived in Europe from the Neolithic Near East.
The Daily Post says that the Aurochs may have grazed at Dinas Dinlle over 3,000 year ago. It is possible that this animal died on marshy ground and its remains were then uncovered following the storms in the Welsh town.
The ancient Bronze Age horn is now on show at Greenwood Forest Park tourist attraction in Y Felinheli.
Other ancient remains uncovered after the storms in Wales include a Bronze Age wattle walkway in Borth and a previously submerged forest.
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