A human skull left mysteriously on the doorstep of a church in the UK is more than 500 years old, police said today.
The remains were discovered in July, by the church warden of Lady St Mary's Church in Dorset, Wareham.
Dorset Police said carbon dating had established the skull dates from the 15th Century.
The person who left the skull in a bag wrapped in tissue has not been traced.
Dorset Police said it had since closed the case, the BBC reported.
Detective Constable Michelle Lawrence, of Dorset Police, had earlier said: "Some houses near to church were built on parts of the old cemetery nearly 100 years ago and it is feasible that the skull may have been dug up in someone's garden.
"The person who found it may have wanted to do the right thing and left it at the church.
"We would like to ascertain exactly what has happened," Lawrence had said in July.
