Grave Of Ned Kelly Found In Mass Grave At Melbourne Gaol

Archaeologists said Sunday they believe the remains of iconic Australian outlaw Ned Kelly have been found in a mass grave at the site of a former prison.

Kelly was hanged at the Old Melbourne Gaol in 1880, but documents show his remains and those of 32 other executed prisoners were exhumed and reburied at Pentridge Prison in 1929.

Archaeological digs at the site of the former prison have unearthed unmarked coffins containing the remains of the executed prisoners, badly decomposed and mingled.

"We have still some testing to do, but it's pretty clear we have found them," said senior archaeologist Jeremy Smith.

"Identifying the remains of Ned Kelly may prove difficult, as his were not handled with a great degree of care," he said in a statement.

"It is also possible that his skull and other body parts were stolen immediately following his 1880 execution."

The remains would be taken to the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine for analysis and identification, state Planning Minister Justin Madden said.

Kelly, a bank robber who killed three policemen, evaded capture for nearly two years before he and his gang faced a final showdown with the law in Glenrowan in northern Victoria state on June 28, 1880.

Three of the four gang members were killed and Kelly, wearing heavy armor made out of plowshares, was wounded and captured.

Kelly, whose exploits have been made into several films, including one with Rolling Stones rocker Mick Jagger in the lead role, still captivates a country used originally as a settlement for convicts deported from Britain.

Born to an Irish ex-convict father, he is seen by some as a kind of Robin Hood who robbed the rich because of injustices toward the poor.

The Australian government's own cultural website describes Kelly as "one of Australia's greatest folk heroes".

It points out that more books and songs have been written about him and the Kelly Gang than any other group of Australian historical figures

Kelly's homemade iron visor, with a long slit for his eyes, was the inspiration for Australian artist Sidney Nolan's most famous series of paintings.

Australian novelist Peter Carey won the 2001 Booker prize for literature for his "True History of the Kelly Gang".

The government has made efforts to preserve Kelly's memory, and Glenrowan, where he made his last stand, has been listed as a national heritage site.

Madden said that record keeping of prisoner burials at the time Kelly was executed was very poor, but an undated justice department plan including a list of names helped lead archaeologists to the burial area.

"While the mystery is by no means solved, the location of this burial area is certainly an important history discovery," he said.

Kelly was hanged on November 11, 1880. His reputed last words were: "Such is life."