NEW research has revealed human skulls in the collection of Craven Museum in Skipton are not from the early Bronze age as first thought, but are in fact much older.

Experts now say the three skulls which were found in Elbolton Cave, near Grassington, in the late 1880s, are from the early Neolithic period, which ran from around 4300 BC to 2000 BC, making them an astonishing 6,000 years old.

The new evidence, which first came to light in the summer and has only just been confirmed, was the result of a partnership between the museum, housed in Skipton Town Hall, and the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society.

The society's Dates in Drawers project paid for the scientific dating of one of the three skulls excavated in 1889 from Elbolton Cave.

In 1973 the burials were estimated to be from the early Bronze Age, about 5,000 years ago, but a more recent assessment in 2013 speculated that they might be of Early Neolithic date.

The recent study puts the skull as dating from 3947 to 3764 BC, and clarifies the date of all three of the near-complete 'crouched' burials - where the body is buried usually on its side, with its knees brought up against the chest.

Carefully interred in crude stone 'cists' - small, stone-built coffin-like boxes within the cave, they show possible evidence of 'excarnation' - where the bodies may have been allowed to be partly eaten by wolves or foxes before burial.

The new date firmly establishes the burials as Early Neolithic — long before the earliest earthworks at Stonehenge. It is of added interest due to the evidence for early ritual treatment and adds greater certainty to knowledge about the early prehistoric use of Elbolton Cave, and to the archaeology of Yorkshire caves generally.

Craven Museum lead, Jenny Hill said: “It has been fantastic to have the opportunity to gain scientific evidence that firmly places the Elbolton Cave finds in the Neolithic period.

"This knowledge is very important for the history of Craven and the wider Yorkshire area. Working with the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society on this project has been very rewarding and I hope similar projects continue across the region”,

David Asquith, president of the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society, said: "I think this shows what local initiative and targeted support can do.

"Thanks to Jenny's enthusiasm the society is building a great partnership with Craven Museum and we look forward to similar productive projects with other Yorkshire museums."

The museum also has bones excavated at the same time from the cave, and a student from the University of Bradford is currently carrying out work on them to establish if they make up complete skeletons.

The skulls are on permanent display at the museum along with other items found in the cave such as pottery, worked bones and stones and animal bones including Brown Bear, Arctic Fox, reindeer and badger.

Entry to the museum is free.