Ancient skeletons found in India Published duration 15 April 2015

image copyright Manoj dhaka image caption The skeletons have been unearthed in India's Haryana state

Archaeologists in India say they have unearthed four human skeletons dating back to the oldest civilisation in the subcontinent.

The ancient Harappan civilisation dates back around 4,000 years and was first discovered at Mohenjo Daro in what is now Pakistan in the 1920s.

The remains recovered from a cemetery in the northern state of Haryana are of two adult males, a female and a child.

Scholars hope the latest find will shed new light on the Harappan people.

Archaeologists and scientists from India and South Korea have been carrying out excavations at the cemetery at Rakhigarhi village in Haryana's Hissar district since 2013.

image copyright Manoj dhaka image caption South Korean scientists will examine the DNA obtained from the skeletons

image copyright Manoj Dhaka image caption Archaeologists say the skeletons have been 'well preserved'

Archaeologist Ranvir Singh said scientists from South Korea at the site, equipped with advanced technology, would now attempt to reconstruct the DNA of the skeletons.

Nilesh Jadhav, another archaeologist working at the site, told The Hindustan Times that they had also found "some items like pottery with food grains and shell bangles near the skeletons, which enabled us to believe that the settlers believed in reincarnation".

Mohenjo Daro is the world's oldest surviving city and dates back to the pre-Hindu Indus Valley civilisation.