A human skull, believed to be "reasonably old", has been found on a Northland beach.
The skull was found in sand dunes in Glinks Gully, near Dargaville, and the matter would be referred to a pathologist.
Earlier, the Dargaville News reported that the discovery was made by two Australian tourists walking along the beach near the entrance of Glinks Gully on Tuesday evening.
Camp ground operator Geoff Nicoll says the tourists were shocked to see a head poking up out of the sand and asked to use his phone to call police.
"I went and saw the head and stayed with it until the police arrived," he says.
"There were bits of gristle and hair at the back of the skull. I reckon it would have been buried there a few years."
Nicoll says skull was at the top of the dune and he was sure it had been placed there.
"It may be that somebody disposed of the body in different places."
