Archeologists found hundreds of human skulls of undated period on a stretch of 15.6 meters X 1.7 meters at Annigeri in the Dharwad district of Karnataka just two feet below the soil. Officials believe the skulls might be related to a massacre as found on an inscription dating back to the 12th century, though there was no report on the existence of such a mass grave so far.

What is surprising to the officials is that the skulls were neatly arranged in rows as seen in the photograph and archeologist Mr. Gopal and well known historian Professor Krishnamurthy said the find could be a secondary grave.

It all began when the labourers were digging up the ground next to a drain for clearing up the silt. The workers, after finding 50 skulls in a row to their utter shock during the digging work, called up the officials who in turn asked the archeologists to take up excavations.  

Under the directions of Gopal and professor Krishnamurthy, excavations started on January 12 and the teams found 471 human skulls neatly arranged.  The upper portion skulls without the jaws are found in different directions and next to them are human bones on the same stretch. The experts believe there might be around 600 human skulls at the site.

The skulls were sent to the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) in Hyderabad for ascertaining the period of the skulls but the Center expressed its inability to ascertainthe period. The Institute of Physics at Bhuvaneshwar is now busy finding out the period of these skulls.

In India, there were evidences for massacre and mass burial but nowhere had such a neat arrangement of skulls been reported till now.