Baby found under floorboards may have died 300 years ago

Baby found under floorboards may be 300 years old6 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleDuncan LeatherdaleCrook, County DurhamPA MediaThe baby's skeleton was found in Bishop Auckland in 2024 and originally thought to be a century oldA baby boy whose skeleton was found beneath floorboards could have died up to 300 years ago, an inquest has heard, adding more mystery to what happened to him.The baby, referred to in official documents as Baby Auckland, was found by contractors renovating a building on Fore Bondgate in Bishop Auckland in July 2024.Opening an inquest in Crook, County Durham and Darlington senior coroner Jeremy Chipperfield heard the baby was full-term but it was not clear if he had been stillborn.A cause of death could not be ascertained but carbon dating suggested he lived sometime between 1726 and 1812, even though he was wrapped in a newspaper from 1910 and the property was built in the Victorian era.A Durham Police officer told the coroner the force was contacted on 29 July 2024 after a contractor working on the building found a "small skeleton of a baby under the floorboards".A post-mortem examination was carried out but the baby's cause of death was "unascertained", the coroner heard.A DNA analysis revealed the baby was a boy but he could not be further identified.Funeral plannedThe baby was estimated to be "full term neonatal" having had 38 to 40 weeks of development, the coroner heard, although it was "not possible to determine if he was stillborn".A brown twine was found looped three times around the child's neck and the baby was wrapped in an edition of The Umpire newspaper from Sunday 19 June 1910, the inquest heard.The coroner said carbon testing was done in several stages to work out when he lived.The first phase involved determining if he predated the "nuclear age", which began in 1945 when the US first tested the atom bomb in New Mexico, the coroner heard.Having confir...