Over the last four days, more than 100 human skulls have been found from a drain being desilted at Annigeri in Navalgund taluk of Dharwad district.
No one is sure how and why the skulls were buried there, but several interesting theories are doing the rounds.
“The area may have been a mass grave some 150-200 years ago,” home minister VS Acharya said on Wednesday. “It may have been an abandoned cemetery. The skulls could also be of those who may have died in a battle around that time” he said.
“These assumptions are based on preliminary information made available to us. Two skulls have been taken from the site for a detailed forensic investigation. Some skeletons have also been found at the site. The skulls were found when an earthmover was being used to remove silt from a drain on Saturday,” he said. “We have sent samples of the skulls for forensic examination,” Acharya said. “The Research Centre for DNA Diagnostics is also studying the skulls.”
The discovery of the skulls is now attracting even historians to the site. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) officials have visited the site and are trying to ascertain the age of the skulls and the period to which they belong.
