GRAND FORKS (AP) - Human remains found on the University of North Dakota campus appear to be those of a female and are decades old, officials say.

"There is nothing to indicate (the remains) are those of a missing person," UND campus Police Chief Duane Czapiewski said Thursday.

The skeletal remains were discovered at about 4 p.m. Wednesday, when a contractor was digging near the Chester Fritz Auditorium parking lot to install a new steam line, Czapiewski said.

The area has been sealed off while police, crime bureau agents and university anthropologists investigate the site.

UND spokesman Peter Johnson said in a statement Thursday that the school's Department of Anthropology, along with the state lab in Bismarck, will analyze the remains. Researchers finished excavating the site at about noon Thursday, he said.

"No report is expected until the end of next week," Johnson's statement said.

"It appears at this time that the anatomical specimen has been there for some decades, that it is an older female (not a traditional college-age student) and the initial analysis does not show signs of criminal activity," the statement said.

Czapiewski said the excavation work that led to the discovery is for the future site of a new UND alumni center.

"The workers that were doing the construction found something, and at that point, they contacted the university police department," Highway Patrol Sgt. Dolf Oldenburg said.