Human remains have been found on the site of the bulk fuel farm in Rupert’s Valley, reports Saint FM.
The station says it is likely they had previously been unearthed at another site and “dumped” further up the valley.
They are almost certainly the remains of Africans who arrived on St Helena, dead or dying, when captured slave-running ships were brought to the island by the Royal Navy’s West Africa Squadron in the 19th Century.
Now questions are likely to be asked about how the remains for liberated slaves have been treated when they have come to light in the past.
Archaeologists excavated part of the extensive African graveyard in Rupert’s Valley, but only where it was in the path of the proposed haul road – now built – for construction traffic, working from maps of the burial sites.
The radio station says the discovery may hold up work on the airport.
St Helena Online is seeking further information.
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