A newly discovered skeleton may reveal more about the lives of marooned shipwreck survivors who were massacred by mutineers off the West Australian coast.
The Batavia, a Dutch East India Company ship, was wrecked on a reef in the Houtman Abrolhos island chain on June 4, 1629, during its maiden voyage.
Most of the estimated 341 people on board made it to nearby islands.
But while the ship's senior crew made their way to Jakarta for help, a small group of mutineers massacred more than 100 of the survivors, including women and children.
Since the discovery of the Batavia's wreck in 1963, archaeological work on several of the islands has found historical material, including a mass grave at Beacon Island.
The WA Museum announced this week that a new burial site containing the remains of an adolescent had been found.
Researchers say the discovery is an opportunity to reconstruct the events surrounding the individual's death and internment, as well as the life and times of the sailors aboard Dutch East India Company ships.
"It is as much about knowing where the people came from, what their diet was, as well as how they died," head of maritime archaeology Jeremy Green said.
Mr Green said there were at least two known burial sites to be studied as part of the expedition, but suspected there were other graves yet to be investigated as well.
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