A casual stroll on a South Carolina island took a chilling turn when a group of tourists uncovered what they believed were fossils – only to discover they had unearthed centuries-old human remains.

The haunting discovery was made Friday on Edisto Island – a historic site that was once home to the 19th-century settlement of Edingsville Beach, according to the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office.

“Early indications suggest the remains may originate from a long forgotten burial site,” officials said.

The remains – which include a skull and a scattering of separated bones – were collected from the beach destination and will now undergo forensic analysis to determine their origin and age, county coroner Rich Harvey told Newsweek.

“The remains are going to be taken to a forensic anthropologist,” Harvey said, adding that it’s unclear how long it will take to unlock the mystery behind the bones.

Remains were previously discovered on the island — which was once home to convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh — in 2015 when a tourist spotted bones protruding from the mud. Not long after, a former park ranger uncovered a skull with teeth still intact, according to the Edisto Island website. 

Scientists determined the bones — one of them a cow skeleton — dated back to 1865 and 1870.

The ancient settlement was established in 1825 and once served as a fashionable summer retreat for Charleston’s elite. It was made up of 60 tabby and brick homes with ocean-facing verandas, churches, a school, boathouses and a billiard saloon.

The settlement’s existence was short-lived, as coastal erosion and the disruptions of the Civil War took their toll, the website stated.

The final blow came when two catastrophic hurricanes — in 1885 and 1893 — destroyed what little remained of the once-bustling community.