Inside, Bulgarian born Mr Draganov claimed to have found the strange werewolf-like skull.
Balkan folklore states werewolves - shapeshifting wolf-like creatures - should be disposed of by decapitation and burning of the body following an exorcism.
FilipGanev
The "werewolf"skull allegedly found buried in locked box
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A real wolf howling
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The werewolf myth is a staple of the Balkans
They say that I will be reborn as a werewolf. If that is now my fate, so be it. What is done is done.
Farmer Trayche Draganov who says he found the skull
Neighbours in the village have warned him he may have released the spirit of the mythical beast and risks turning into one himself.
Mr Draganov told the Ancient Origins website: "They say that I will be reborn as a werewolf. If that is now my fate, so be it. What is done is done."
The skull was allegedly wolf-like, but with the enlarged cranium found only in primates such as humans, gorillas and monkeys.
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Some believe it is a baboon skull like this, although the teeth appear different
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A normal wolf's skull
FilipGanev
The skull in its 'box'.
[But historian Filip Ganev, who photographed it and showed it to wildlife experts, was told the skull probably came from a deformed wolf which had been suffering from Paget's disease which causes the skulls of mammals to increase in size and appear more human-like.
Many people suspect Mr Draganov's find was, in fact, an elaborate hoax, amid claims the wooden box he allegedly found it in did not appear to be as rotten as they would have expected it to be had it been buried in mud for any length of time, and straw inside the box appeared to be fresh.
Others felt it was a genuine baboon skull that was used or even an artificial one.
By Jon Austin, The Daily And Sunday Express
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