A grave containing at least 400 people has been unearthed in the Bolivian city of Potosi, with the remains thought to be those of colonial-era miners, BBC reported.
The grave was found by workers carrying out excavations for the construction of a new building.
“We are talking about a common grave found at about 1.8 metres. Human remains are scattered over an area of four by four metres,” said Sergio Fidel, a researcher at a museum belonging to Potosi’s TomasFriasUniversity.
The university intervened when it learnt that construction workers were piling the bones in a heap while work continued.
The mine at Potosi became the world’s biggest after silver was discovered there by the Spanish in 1545.
The mines at Potosi were a source of huge riches for Spain until the end of colonial rule in the 19th Century.