Archaeological human remains have been found to the side of St Joseph's Oratory in Vittoriosa, the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage said.

It said the remains, a skeleton of an adult individual, were found during excavations for the placing of an electricity cable.

The skeleton was found just a few centimeters beneath the road’s surface.

The work was stopped immediately for the superintendence to carry out the initial studies on the site.

Once all the necessary archaeological documentation related to the find was logged, the superintendence decided to keep the skeleton buried on site, and seal it with protective layers.

Together with architects from the Restoration Directorate, it also identified an alternate route for the cable, to remove the possibility of damaging historic burials.

The zone where the find was made was part of a cemetery that was linked to the St Lawrence Parish Church. The cemetery was already in use in the 16th century. It was abandoned in time and has since housed several buildings and spaces including the road and steps now found in this small square.

All evidence pointing to the cemetery had disappeared by the 19th century.

However, the skeleton’s find shows that in spite of all the activity that took place on site, parts of the cemetery remained intact. This was also in spite of the war damage suffered by Vittoriosa.

he superintendence said it was probable there were many more historic burials in the zone.