Fiji archaeologists have found and unearthed 16 human skeletons at a burial site of Bourewa on the South Pacific island of Fiji believing the site was a 3,000- year-old settlement, according to reports from Suva Tuesday.

The archaeologists from Fiji's University of the South Pacific and Fiji Museum found the skeletons, which are regarded as the first human settlement of the country, during a recent scientific trip to Bourewa on the southwest of the main island of Viti Levu.

Team leader Patrick Nunn said the find bolstered evidence that the site was the first settlement in the Fiji archipelago and was probably occupied from about 1,200 BC.

"It is clear from this that the skeletons are probably around 3, 000 years old, and represent the physical remains of the people who lived at Bourewa," said Nunn.

Bourewa was settled by the Lapita people, known for their intricately decorated pottery, which is abundant at the Bourewa site and is also found in areas from Papua New Guinea in the west to Tonga and Samoa in the east.

Source: Xinhua