Ancient skulls returned to Egypt

Two ancient Egyptian skulls found buried in a back garden have been returned to Egypt.

Matthew McClelland, 28, unearthed the skulls while digging at his south Manchester home in June last year.

The skulls were confiscated by police and analysed by forensic experts at Oxford University.

Manchester police said the skulls were "genuine Egyptian artefacts" and had now been returned to Egypt.

An Egyptian Embassy spokesman said: "These skulls are around 2,000 years old, and were taken back to Cairo a few weeks ago.

"They have been examined by the Head of the Antiquities Council and will need some restoration work. Once that is done they will go on show in Egypt."

The skulls were buried at the house on Ivygreen Road, Chorlton, two years ago by a doctor who collected them while on holiday in Sinai.

Dr Carl Bracey, 41, bought the skulls while still a teenager and was later forced to bury them as his wife did not like them.

Dr Tom Higham, deputy director of the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, who examined the skulls, said they were extremely well preserved.

He said: "They looked very good, but it's often difficult to tell as sometimes they do not have enough collagen to date them.

"The important point was that they were extremely old, and had no forensic significance - they were not from people who had died recently.

"It's a lovely turn of events that the long lost skulls have gone back home to Egypt."