Skull found on beach had fillings in teeth 

Source: ONE News

A human skull found on a Northland beach last week appears to have dental fillings in its teeth, along with hair and gristle still attached, a local says.

The skull was found in sand dunes in Glinks Gully, near Dargaville, by Australian tourists on Tuesday.

Police said last week the skull appeared to be "reasonably old".

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.

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

The tourists who found the skull had asked to use his phone to call police.

"I went and saw the head and stayed with it until the police arrived," he told the Dargaville News.

Northland police Inspector Paul Dimery said no other body parts had been found by a police scene examination, the Northern Advocate reported.

Police were not pursuing a homicide inquiry, he said.

It was not unusual for human remains to be found in Northland, he said.

Some were pre-European, but a pathologist's examination was needed to correctly identify their age.