Three Skeletons

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 43, 15 February 1923, Page 8

Three Skeletons

MYSTERY STILL UNSOLVED'. The remains three {skeletons found on Mt. Egmont were brought to New Plymouth on Tuesday by the police, and will probably be submitted to an expert tor examination. Nothing was found in the cave except the bones. Were they of European origin it. is almost certain that some metal articles in the way of boot nails, coins, brace buckles, etc., would have been found in the cave, and th e absence of such things strengthens the theory that the hones ar e those of Maoris. Their position in the cave (stated Police Inspector Murray) suggested that they had been placed there, rather than that it was the scene of a tragic death. Th e bones do not make anything like three complete skeletons. There are thre e skulls and a number of the . larger hones of the limbs, ten of them having the appearance of leg hones and the remainder as those of the arms. The majority are very much decayed and have rotted away, hut one or two of the leg bones are in a fair state of preservation. The whole lot, however, including the skulls, show signs of having been exposed to the elements for a very long time, and hear traces of mountain growths, from which \ they had to be disentangled.

Of tile skulls, one which was found a little distance from the cave shows signs of greater exposure than the others. Another has a very protruding upper jaw, in which several teeth remain. Some of these appear to be of abnormally larg e size and all show sighs of heavy use, for the points are ground almost flat. The third skull contains some teeth, and this skull is gradually falling apart.