Children find human tooth while playing in garden

A human tooth found in a garden is to be examined by archaeologists, police have said.

Devon and Cornwall Police said the tooth, about 2.5cm (1in) long, was found in the garden of a property in a south Devon town at about 16:00 GMT on Wednesday.

Ameila Bax said her three-year-old son, and her friend's son, eight years old, were playing in the garden when they found it.

"We weren't completely sure it was human to start with," she said. "I checked with my friend who is a vet nurse and we kind of ruled out all of the other animal teeth. We're like 'no, that is human'."

Bax said she called the police who were at the garden "all day".

She said her home dated back to the 1300s and in the 1700s, it was a slaughter and then a pharmacy for about 100 years.

Bax said of the tooth: "We don't actually know if it's medieval, it could be more modern.

"We've found all sorts in the garden already, including bottles and even a bottle of poison, but nothing human before.

"I wonder whose it was."

Police put a scene guard in place whilst officers carried out inquiries, which has since been lifted.

"The tooth will be examined by a forensic archaeologist in due course," police added.

"This is not being treated as suspicious."

Bax said the tooth had a "huge hole in it", and added "I imagine it was an extraction, but I'm obviously not an expert".

"We can't touch the area for eight weeks until the results are back," she said. "If it's modern then they [the police] might treat the garden as a crime scene.

"If it's really old then they might send in an archaeologist."

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