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THE TAMAZUNCHALE HORN
PRESS RELEASE

This unique horn was found in January 1967, fished out of a river in Tamazunchale, Mexico by holidaying pools winner John Mandeville. Mandeville kept the horn until his death in 1999 aged one hundred and eleven , after which the horn was donated to the museum.

The specimen is pure white, 37.5cm long , 2.1cm in circumference and unlike most animal horns is completely solid. Astonishingly, carbon dating revealed that the creature it belonged to died two thousand years ago . In 2000 the horn was sent to Dr Gilberto Tozzi, a renowned zoologist and biochemist at the Royal Academy of Science in London, where it underwent three years of DNA testing. Results show that the horn does not originate from any documented species, although it presents features similar to the Bovidae and Equidae genetic groupings. Dr Tozzi has offered a speculative theory of how the creature might look;

“It is likely that it would have been large, with equine features, as this would allow support of a single, heavy, horn. Curvatures at the base of the horn suggest its location in the centre of the animal’s forehead. Its discovery in Mexico indicates the creature would have cloven hooves like a goat, for mobility on varied terrain. It is possible that the animal’s coat would be white or grey to reflect heat from the sun. In short, it would have looked like a cross between a domestic goat and a horse.”
Dr Gilberto Tozzi PhD

Examples of similar creatures have been seen in medieval tapestries, although the existence of these mythical ‘unicorns’ have always been dismissed. The horn’s ability to cause spontaneous cell regeneration has cast new light on these ancient stories. Mandeville had always asserted that it was the horn which kept him in good health, working as a fisherman in Cornwall until his accidental death. Exposure to the horn produced regeneration in dying and diseased plant and animal tissue. One experiment saw a small fox survive lethal poisoning when treated with powdered horn mixed with water. Samples are still being tested by medical researchers across the UK, with many predicting its secrets could revolutionise medicine in the 21st Century.

THIS ITEM WILL BE DISPLAYED IN THE NEW ACQUISITIONS ROOM UNTIL 30th MARCH 2003