COLOMBO, March 8 (Xinhua) -- A Sri Lankan court has been informed that the skeletal remains unearthed from the largest mass grave in Mannar, in northern Sri Lanka last year, dates back to around 500 years during the European colonial era, local media reported Friday.
According to local media, a report from a carbon dating laboratory in the United States revealed that the six bone samples collected from the Mannar graves falls within the 1499 to 1719 period.
The samples were sent to the laboratory after concerns were raised to ascertain if the skeletal remains were of those who were killed during the island's 30 year civil war between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels which ended in May 2009.
Mannar Magistrate, T. Sarvanarajah ordered authorities to make the report public when the case was taken up for hearing following a motion filed by relatives of some people who went missing allegedly during the island's civil conflict.
Sri Lankan authorities found the remains of over 300 men, women, and children in the mass grave while construction workers were digging in the Mannar area a year ago.
Sri Lanka's newly established Office on Missing Persons (OMP) funded the tests to ascertain as to how old the skeletal remains were.
Tamil Tiger rebels and government forces both held Mannar District at different times during the conflict.
