The discovery was made by workers engaged in the construction of a new inter-state bus terminal in Gaulapar area of Haldwani on Tuesday setting off a debate among officials, experts and people about how old the remains could be.
As locals say they have no memory of a burial ground being located near the ISBT site where construction work has been going on since 2014, experts say they could date back to over a hundred years.
Another theory said the remains could be of those who died of epidemics, malaria or famine.
However, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said nothing could be said without a scientific analysis of the remains.