Palaeontologists baffled by a mystery hoard of shark teeth found in ancient Jerusalem

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The shark teeth are believed to be at last 80 million-years-old and may have belonged to the biblical King Solomon. Palaeontologists are due to present their discovery on July 6 at the annual Goldschmidt Conference, held online this year because of Covid. Presented by Dr Thomas Tuetken of the University of Mainz in Germany, the shark teeth were found nearly 50 miles (80km) from where such fossils would be typically found.

Dr Tuetken said: “These fossils are not in their original setting, so they have been moved.

“They were probably valuable to someone; we just don’t know why, or why similar items have been found in more than one place in Israel.”

According to one theory, the shark teeth may have been part of a collection belonging to King Solomon (990 to 931 BC).

The Old Testament monarch is believed to have ruled the United Kingdom of Israel between 970 and 931 BC, although there is no agreement whether Solomon was a man of myth or historical fact.

The shark teeth have been dated to around the time of Solomon’s immediate descendants: Rehoboam, Abija, Assa, and Jehoshaphat.

The hoard was found in the City of David, buried amid material used to fill the basement of a large Iron-Age house.

The City of David, which today sits in the Palestinian village of Silwan, is an archaeological site believed to mark the original centre of Bronze Age Jerusalem and is certainly one of the city’s oldest parts.

The shark teeth were found together with a cluster of fish bones – ancient food waste discarded some 2,900 years ago.

The teeth were also found alongside bits of pottery and bullae – clay seals used to officially seal letters and containers.

The mix of items at first suggested the shark teeth dated to within the same time period – but that was not the case.

Instead, the researchers found the teeth belonged to species of Late Cretaceous shark that has been extinct for at least 66 million years – the same time the dinosaurs died out.

These included several species from the Squalicorax group.

Sharks from this prehistoric family of predators group grew between two and five metres long and lived only during the Late Cretaceous.

Dr Tuetken said: “That sent us back to the samples, where measuring organic matter, elemental composition, and the crystallinity of the teeth confirmed that indeed all shark teeth were fossils.

“Their strontium isotope composition indicates an age of about 80 million years.

“This confirmed that all 29 shark teeth found in the City of David were Late Cretaceous fossils – contemporary with dinosaurs.”

The weathered condition of the teeth suggested they were transported to the City of David, likely from the Negev Desert in southern Israel.

Similar fossils have been discovered in this arid landscape that contains several ancient archaeological and biblical sites.

And since the original discovery was made, the researchers have found more fossilised shark teeth in other parts of Israel.

Dr Tuetken said: “Our working hypothesis is that the teeth were brought together by collectors, but we don’t have anything to confirm that.

“There are no wear marks which might show that they were used as tools, and no drill holes to indicate that they may have been jewellery.

“We know that there is a market for shark’s teeth even today, so it may be that there was an Iron Age trend for collecting such items.

“This was a period of riches in the Judean Court.

“However, it’s too easy to put two and two together to make five. We’ll probably never really be sure.”

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