Aurochs Skull, subfossil - Bos

3D Model

This is the skull of an aurochs, or wild ox, the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. Destruction of forests and hunting over thousands of years led to its extinction. The species survived in Britain until the Bronze Age and the last wild aurochs was killed in Poland in 1627.

Chapleton Moss, five miles east of Forfar, Angus, Scotland, was drained in 1750 to enable peat and marl to be dug from the ground. This skull was dug from beneath 10 feet of peat in the summer of 1790. The skull was presented to the Literary and Antiquarian Society of Perth in 1791 by James Wright a Dundee merchant.

This specimen is in the collection of Perth Museum and Art Gallery. Accession Number : PERGM 1981.923