DETECTIVES investigating the discovery of a head found dumped in a plastic bag are believed to have found a human bone sitting alongside it, it emerged today.
The discovery adds to the intrigue surrounding the grisly discovery of the "mummified" human head on Christmas Eve.
Police are still baffled by the case and are trying to establish whether the dumping of the remains may have been the result of so
me kind of medical students' prank or something more sinister. The human bone was reportedly found inside the same bag as the head which police believe belonged to a woman who died between ten and 15 years ago.
Police would neither confirm nor deny reports that a bone was found with the head.
Police search dogs, which are used to sniff out human remains, were at the scene yesterday. The head was found by a woman out walking her dog in Newhaven early on Wednesday morning.
Officers quickly established the head was human, describing it as "mummified," but remain uncertain over whether the head is that of a child or an adult.
It is thought the bag may have been left in the past week. Police are treating the find as a suspicious death. However, they are also investigating the possibility the head may have been stolen from a cemetery or a medical lab.
Mystery of walker's grim find at footpathTHE old railway line from Leith to South Queensferry is normally a tranquil spot.
Dog-walkers and the occasional cyclist are the most regular visitors to the footpath which follows its route today, although local residents have always known it had a darker side. Its isolation has long attracted street drinkers and drug addicts, as well as prostitutes when Leith's red light district operated nearby.
More recently it has become a popular gathering place for gangs of teenage drinkers.
Today, though, it is the police who are encamped there, as they search for clues as to how a severed human head came to be lying in the undergrowth.
Detectives descended on the pathway after a woman walking her dog decided to prod at a blue carrier bag lying in the undergrowth at around 10.30am on New Year's Eve.
What she saw led her to call the police who were both horrified and baffled by what they found.
It was immediately obvious to officers that they were looking at a human head. The skin showed no signs of decomposition, but other natural decay meant it was impossible to determine the age or gender of who it had belonged to, even whether it was an adult or child.
It is believed to have had long hair and the eyes were apparently missing, a likely result of decomposition over several years even in an embalmed body.
A human bone apparently lay alongside the head.
Police cordoned off the area around the footpath at Hawthornvale and forensic specialists were called in to remove the head from the scene.
First, however, officers from the force identification bureau photographed the head.
The area remained sealed off yesterday as officers questioned locals and specially trained police search dogs, which are used to sniff out human remains, were deployed at the scene.
Initial examination by forensic specialist suggested the head was highly likely to come from a woman of indeterminate age.
Officers believe the woman could have died between ten and 15 years ago, but it is thought the bag may have been left in the past week or so, with witnesses reporting seeing the bag around Christmas time.
Police are treating it as a suspicious death and are now sifting through missing persons files in the hope of discovering the person's identity.
Detectives are also thought to be examining the possibility the head may have been stolen from a grave or a medical laboratory, and are currently awaiting the results of dental record checks and toxicology and other forensic tests in an effort to establish the identity of the deceased and the cause of death.
If this was a case of grave robbery, it would not be the first time it has happened in recent years in Edinburgh.
In 2004, two teenagers caused £10,000 of damage to the Mackenzie Mausoleum in Greyfriar's Churchyard when they broke into the tomb and cut off the head of a mummified male corpse.
About 20 years ago a human head was found in Broughton Street and was later found to have been stolen from a crypt in nearby Warriston Cemetery.
One source close to the police said: "If I was a betting man, I would say it's probably an old head taken from a crypt in one of the cemeteries.
"People break into them for all sorts of bizarre reasons."
The apparent embalming of the head remains the most intriguing aspect. The technique, popular in Victorian times, is now only used rarely used in Europe, occurring only if there is expected to be a long time between death and burial.
Detective Superintendent Allan Jones said: "By mummified, we mean that normal microbial decomposition hasn't taken place.
"The remains are a number of years old and while it is difficult to determine the age at this time, we would estimate somewhere in the region of 10 to 15 years old, but we won't know for certain till we do forensic tests.
"Our next objective will be to identify the remains and gather as much information as we can through house-to-house enquiries, and from people who use the walkway regularly."
He added: "We are going to have to do some forensic tests on the head – including dental work, chemical analysis and pathological examination – to determine the sex, age and any other identifying features of the remains., but we may have some further indications by tomorrow.
"At present, this is still an investigation into a suspicious death. It will not officially become a murder inquiry until we've identified evidence of an attack."
