Callum, 9, finds mystery bone while fossil hunting on the beach
Callum Hoare with the giant bone that he found on Sheringham beach. - Credit: Brittany Woodman
Guesses are flooding in about which animal a mysterious bone could be from after it was found on Sheringham beach by a nine-year-old boy.
Callum Hoare found the unidentified bone on the beach between Sheringham and West Runton on Wednesday, October 13 while walking his dog with his dad.
Callum Hoare aged 9 has found a giant bone that might belong to a mammoth on Sheringham beach. Pictures: Brittany Woodman - Credit: Brittany Woodman
He said: "We were walking our dog and I was looking for fossils because I normally find a lot of belemnites when we are on the beach.
"But this is the biggest fossil I've ever found on the beach."
Callum Hoare with the giant bone that he found on Sheringham beach. - Credit: Brittany Woodman
The avid fossil hunter has a collection of around 40 belemnites, the fossilised remains of part of an extinct mollusc, but can now add the large bone to his collection.
Callum said: "I was looking in a rock pool and saw a rock that looked like a piece of flint but I looked at it some more and thought it also looked like a bone.
Callum Hoare aged 9 and his dad Chris Hoare have found a giant bone that might belong to a mammoth on Sheringham beach. Pictures: Brittany Woodman - Credit: Brittany Woodman
"I tried to lift it out of the sand but I couldn't, so my dad had to.
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"At first I thought it might be a cow femur but it looked too thick, then dad showed me a video of a mammoth skeleton we were sent and I think that might be what it is."
Callum's dad, Chris Hoare, posted pictures of the bone on a Sheringham community group on Facebook where people quickly started to guess what it might be.
Mr Hoare said: "The interest is crazy, my post has over 500 likes and we're getting lots of people messaging about what they think it might be.
Callum Hoare often looks for fossils on the beach in Sheringham. Pictures: Brittany Woodman - Credit: Brittany Woodman
"A man in Holland who sent us a video of a mammoth skeleton thinks it might be a mammoth femur and someone suggested it might be the bone of a massive prehistoric deer.
"Someone said they hoped it's not a human bone, but it's definitely too big for that."
The bone, which is 16 inches long and five inches at its widest part, is now in a bucket of fresh water at the family's Sheringham home to help protect it, awaiting identification.
Giant bone that 9 year old Callum Hoare found on Sheringham beach. - Credit: Brittany Woodman
