Police believe human remains found in an eroding cliff on the coast of western PEI could be connected to a “historical ship wreck burial” from the 1800s, back in the days when shipbuilding was a major backbone of the province’s economy.
The RCMP announced the discovery of the bones in West Cape, PEI, last week in a press release, noting that other “human remains have been located in this area in the past.”
Cpl. Gavin Moore told Global News Wednesday that the provincial coroner’s office is still completing its report into the matter, and that the provincial archaeologist has been called in to assist.
Moore added that the remains were found on Jan. 27 by a local resident who noticed the bones after they became visible due to the surrounding cliff eroding away. Human remains were found in the same location in West Cape in the 1950s and 1960s, Moore said, and potentially in 1994, as well.
He cited “local knowledge” about a shipwreck in the area, and a related burial site, though the investigation into the bones’ providence is still ongoing.
The bones were found about 1.2 kilometres north of West Cape Presbyterian Cemetery, Moore said, which is a provincially recognized heritage site.
The cemetery is believed to have been constructed around 1843 by Scottish Presbyterian settlers who arrived in the area. The burial site became neglected after the church building on site was sold and hauled away, and the coastal road that once ran alongside it was relocated, according to a provincial webpage about the history of the cemetery.
There are many unmarked graves at the site, and it’s believed that “mariners who washed ashore from shipwrecks are also interred” there, the webpage states.
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