COUNTY NEWS: Boy finds mystery '˜mammoth tusk' on Sussex beach

A boy has found what could be a more than 11,000-year-old mammoth tusk on a Sussex beach.
Archie with the mystery object SUS-170313-171640001Archie with the mystery object SUS-170313-171640001
Archie with the mystery object SUS-170313-171640001

Archie Wood, 12, was metal detecting on a Bexhill beach with his father when he spotted a strange item sticking out of the sand.

His grandad, Neil Wood, said: “He was so excited, he couldn’t believe what he was digging up.

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“He saw it sticking out the sand. When he started digging he pulled out this enormous tusk.”

Could it be a mammoth tusk? SUS-170313-171716001Could it be a mammoth tusk? SUS-170313-171716001
Could it be a mammoth tusk? SUS-170313-171716001

At first they thought it might be a large piece of wood, but it was too heavy and looked as though it was once part of a jaw.

Archie, who lives in Hampden Park, Eastbourne, got a metal detector as a present for Christmas and he has always been fascinated by fossil hunting and making discoveries.

Mr Wood continued: “He was ecstatic. He couldn’t rush home quick enough to show it.

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“Everybody that’s seen it has gone ‘wow!’ If you feel it it’s amazing, it’s very heavy.

“You can see it was once part of a jaw. It could have belonged to a sabre toothed tiger or a mammoth.”

They have sent pictures of the find to local experts and to the Zoological Society of London, and are waiting to find what they make of it.