5,000-year-old human bone found in the Thames

Graphic designer Simon Hunt discovered a human femur lying on the rocks of the River Thames.

Hunt had been rowing his boat along the riverbank when he noticed the upper leg bone.

He was initially worried that it could be ‘potentially criminal’, telling the BBC: “I have no idea what a bone would look like if it had only been in the water for two years, so what if it was something more sinister?”

Hunt collected the bone, believed to be one of the oldest objects ever found in the Thames, in a plastic bag and took it home to show his wife. The item was then passed on to the Police, who sent it to a lab to be tested.

Experts ascertained that the bone is over 5,000 years old, likely belonging to a person from the British Neolithic period, between 3516 and 3365BC, according to the Metro.

Hunt told the BBC that he intends to give the bone to a museum. “Hopefully, people will, like I have done, connect with the past. So it has been an amazing adventure.”