Police confirm bones found during Port Lincoln CBD construction are ancient Aboriginal remains

Human remains unearthed during an SA Water street excavation on a Port Lincoln CBD street have been confirmed by police to be ancient Aboriginal remains.

Police at the SA Water excavation in Port Lincoln’s CBD. Picture: Spencer Gulf Nightly News

Police have confirmed the bones found under a Port Lincoln CBD street are pre-European ancient Aboriginal remains.

Forensic Response officers and a forensive anthropologist attended Port Lincoln on Friday morning to conduct and examination of the remains and concluded they are of ancient Aboriginal origin.

Police said the remains will be handled with respect and in accordance with Aboriginal heritage guidelines.

Forensic specialists from Adelaide arrived in Port Lincoln after bones, believed to be human, were found under a CBD street.

SA Water workers made the grim discovery during excavation work on Edinburgh Street around 11.00am on Thursday.

SA Police attended the scene and requested screening while investigations began.

They “appear to be human”, a police spokesperson said.

SAPOL have confirmed they have found what appears to be human bones during a dig by SA Water on Edinburgh Street in Port Lincoln around 11am this morning.

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The area is the site of a brewery, a new business venture by the owner of local electrical company Hankins Electrical.

Owner of the business, Steve Hankins, said construction had been underway on the site for six months, and they hoped to open in two to three weeks, if the investigation did not cause delays.

He added police were tight-lipped.

“The road is potentially one of the oldest in Port Lincoln, there are many older houses on the block,” Mr Hankins said.

An SA Water spokesperson confirmed a range of support services are available to staff and we encourage local teams and our contract partners to access these if the matter has raised any concerns for them.