HAGATNA, Guam — More than 350 human skeletons dating back as far as some 2,500 years have been discovered on Guam with the removal of a hotel swimming pool.

"This discovery represents one of the oldest, largest and best-preserved prehistoric burial populations ever uncovered in the Western Pacific region," archaeologist David DeFant said.

"The results of this research will make a significant contribution to our understanding of how these early people lived and perhaps where they came from," said DeFant, who is with the archaeological firm Paul H. Rosendahl Inc.

Previous finds in the Marianas island chain dated back no further than 1,000 to 1,500 years, he said this past week.

As old as they are, the skeletons unearthed from beneath the pool at the Guam Hotel Okura in Tumon Bay aren't those of the first humans to inhabit Guam, DeFant said. DNA testing will be attempted in an effort to trace their ancestry, he said.

The swimming pool was removed to renovate the hotel, which is now called the Guam Aurora Resort Villa and Spa.

"It's amazing how they survived underneath the pool," DeFant said.

The 367 sets of human remains were probably not buried so deep, but were covered over the millennia by sand deposits, as well as dirt that eroded from higher ground, he said.

The 18-month excavation of the site also turned up a large number of finely made tools and ornaments.

"These artifacts include nearly complete pottery vessels, necklaces made of hundreds of both small and large shell beads, shell bracelets, shell pendants, woodworking tools made of stone and shell, stone tools used for food preparation, unusually large shell fish hooks, net sinkers made of stone and shell, and large oyster shells of unknown function," DeFant said.

Guam is a U.S. territory located about 3,700 miles southwest of Hawai'i.