Skull found on Little Beach ‘probably’ male

Jan 21, 2021

A human skull found on Little Beach near the Westport border earlier this month is probably male, although its age is unknown, according to the state’s Chief Medical Examiner’s Office.

Dartmouth Police confirmed last week that a beachcomber at the secluded spot off Horseneck Road had found a fragment of what appeared to be a human skull on Jan. 3.

Police spokesperson Det. Kyle Costa confirmed that it was the skull cap, and was found near the high tide line, likely washed ashore.

“We don’t know how old it is,” he noted. “There is no suspected foul play at this point.”

Massachusetts’ Executive Office for Public Safety and Security spokesperson Tim McGuirk confirmed that the medical examiner believes the skull belongs to a male of unspecified age.

“It does not look archaeological, but they could not rule out something like a shipwreck from the past century,” he noted.

McGuirk said that the office is currently working to get a DNA sample and identify the remains, a process that can take weeks or months.