The results of the radiocarbon dating tests carried out by a lab in the U.S. on the bone samples recovered from the mass grave in Mannar were received early this morning (16), according to Dr Saminda Rajapaksa, the Judicial Medical Officer who is in charge of the excavations.
He said that samples from the skeletal remains of six humans were sent to Beta Analytics which is based in Miami, Florida and that the reports for five of them have been received.
He stated that the relevant reports will be presented to the Mannar Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday (20) before they are released to the media.
Dr Rajapaksa stated that they expect the results of the other sample to arrive soon as well.
The mass grave in the former war zone was discovered in March last year by construction workers.
So far a total of 323 human skeletal remains have been found, including the remains of about 28 children while excavations are still ongoing.
The fragments were sent with a forensic expert to a Miami-based laboratory on January 23 to determine when those buried had died.
The report will determine whether the bones “are from one or multiple historical periods”.
