UPDATED: Bones found at construction site belong to pig, not human

UPDATE (8/12/2014): The medical examiner’s office confirmed two bones found at the construction site on North Park Street belong to a pig, while a third is undergoing testing with results expected later this week.

HALIFAX – Construction crews working on a new North Park Street roundabout in Halifax had to stop Wednesday afternoon when human remains were discovered at the site.

Two bones — a small rib and the ball from a hip joint, likely from a child — were dug up by archaeologists at the site near the Halifax Armoury on Cunard Street.

Upon closer inspection, it was determined the unearthed bones are likely from a burial that took place about 160 years ago.

Davis’ crew has been at the site for two weeks because it was deemed historically significant, having been home to the orphanage and a church.

“My staff and the medical examiner’s office agree that the bones have been there for a long time and…were capped by many years of road-building, the parking lot and so on,” he said.

Davis said the dirt in that area of the site will be screened on Thursday, and if more bones are found, they will be sent to the medical examiner’s office as well.

Halifax police were at the scene for about an hour before leaving.

The case has been handed over to the medical examiner’s office, and construction work has resumed.

With files from Rebecca Lau, Global News