Jan 20, Colombo: Excavations continued at the mass grave found in Sri Lanka's Central Provincial town Matale have so far unearthed 79 human skulls, police media unit said.

Another 12 skeletons without skulls have also been unearthed at the site in Matale District Hospital premises during the excavations.

The excavations, commenced on November 27th, are being carried out on an order by Matale Magistrate Chathurika de Silva and under the supervision of Consultant Judicial Medical Officer Dr. Ajith Jayasena.

The collective graveyard was found within the Matale Hospital premises when a backhoe was digging the area for a new construction.

Department of Archaeology has verified that the remains recovered from site have no archaeological significance.

Excavations are still being conducted and the investigations are conducted by the Judicial Medical Officer of Matale and the mystery behind the pit is yet to be revealed.

The JMO however, says it will take some time to identify the remains and no conclusions can be drawn until an expert team had finished its work.