Dentists may help police solve the riddle of the human head found when workmen took delivery of a skip that had been sent to a Fenland quarry.
Police say they are “keeping an open mind” about what happened but confirmed the head “does have teeth which will form part of the investigation”.
Dental records are now being checked to see if that will help police solve the identity of the person.
Forensic experts have concluded their search of the quarry at Mepal near Ely but investigators are still at the scene of a rail site 40 miles away in Bedfordshire where the skip is thought to have been loaded.
The gruesome discovery was made on Monday afternoon by a workman employed by Mick George Ltd at the quarry.
A colleague told journalists the workman who found the “first thought was that it was a mannequin’s head.
“But then he realised it had eyebrows and hair, and suddenly clicked that it was actually a woman’s head.
“He said it had blood all over and was covered in dirt, but didn’t look like it had disintegrated.”
A post mortem concluded the person died at least 17 months ago - before January 1 2015.
A police spokesman said: “Detectives from the Beds, Cambs and Herts Major Crime Unit continue to work with specialists in order to establish the gender and identity of the deceased.”
Since the discovery, forensic teams have been searching at a rail site in Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire - 40 miles away.
The head is thought to have been taken to Mepal in landfill from Sharnbrook where a Network Rail building project - including the repainting and strengthening of a railway viaduct - is taking place.
Forensic teams are scouring the land for other body parts and a JCB digger is searching beneath Sharnbrook’s historic viaduct.
The Mepal site in Block Fen Road where the head was found is used for landfill and recycling, as well as the supply of aggregates such as limestone and gravel, and mixing concrete.
A police spokesman confirmed they were not linking it to any other investigations.
Detective Inspector Jerry Waite said: “We are conducting inquiries both locally and across the county borders, and would urge anyone with information about the finding to contact us.
“At this stage we do not know if the head is male or female, however we have got officers carrying out searches at a site in Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire, as we believe this is where the remains may have come from.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the Major Crime Unit on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
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