Is This Jawbone Human? A Scientific Approach to Identifying Fossils

[Tiger Blood]

TL;DR Summary

Just need help in identifying jawbone

I was walking near the construction site and as they dig stuff out I saw a jawbone that could be human. So can someone tell me if it is human or not?

 

[Tom.G]

A size reference would certainly help. How about a photo with a ruler next to the bone? Preferably both inch and metric.

 

[Rive]

I'm definitely not an expert, but looks human for me - and old.
Some old cemetery there, maybe?
Could you please provide a location?

 

[Tiger Blood]

In size, it could be an adult human and I've shown it to an oral surgeon who said that it is a human jaw and I've contacted the police.

 

[Rive]

That bone looks old, unlikely to be any crime-related. But at least the police will know who should be contacted and has the means to stop the construction till things got sorted out.

Could you please provide some information about the location? Not exact site, but country, city... Just being curious :)

 

[pinball1970]

... Just being curious :)

Me too! I was wondering what that hole was. Mental foreman? (google)
How did you know it was old? The teeth look in good condition.
Is it the scaly appearance of the bone rather than smooth? (just looking at images on google)

 

[Rive]

How did you know it was old? The teeth look in good condition.

I'm no expert. It's just there was some old (1000+ years) graves (?) in the local sand mine in the village (archeologists were involved) where I grew up and (ugh ) we have messed with leftover bones there, so I have some basis for comparison...

Kinda' weird/absurd, actually

Regarding the question ... How should I say... They look timeworn. Not smooth, cracks, crumbling, pieces falling off...

 

[Tiger Blood]

Since you are so interested, Police came and picked me up to look for the jawbone but we could not find it anymore. Workers threw new piles of dirt on that place and I wasn't sure the exact location so we didn't exactly dig for it.

The building site is quite big, it's a promenade they've been working on since 2016. Sometimes in the evenings, I take a stroll where I saw this along with, no doubt, many other people but only I reported it.

One police officer talked to the guys at the construction site and they said how it was probably in the dirt they got shipped from, apparently, unknown locations.

They also got annoyed I didn't report it the same moment I discovered it, but I was not sure it was human. It's one of those moments where you don't believe your eyes.