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An 11,500-year-old grave containing the remains of three infants has been discovered in Alaska.

The babies had been buried by North America's earliest inhabitants - 'Paleo-Indians' - who crossed over a land bridge from Siberia called Beringia, which existed at the end of the last Ice Age.

Early tools found on the continent were also found alongside the babies' remains.

An 11,500 year old grave (pictured) containing the remains of three infants has been found in Alaska. The babies had been buried by North America's earliest inhabitants - 'Paleo-Indians' - who crossed over a land bridge from Siberia that existed at the end of the last Ice Age

It is thought that small groups of hunter-gatherers migrated with herds of large animals and travelled around Alaska.

The skeleton of a three-year-old was found four years ago at an archaeological site at Upper Sun River in the Tanana lowlands forest in central Alaska and had been cremated.

Now, excavations have revealed the skeletons of two more infants in a circular pit about 15 inches (38cm) below the other child, who was buried beneath the remains of a 'seasonal' house.

Experts claim that the first infant died shortly after birth and the other was a late-term foetus. It's possible they could have been twins.

Anthropologist Ben Potter and his team at Alaska University said the discovery offers a rare opportunity to learn how North America's first settlers dealt with the deaths of their young.

The skeleton of a three-year-old was found four years ago at an archaeological site at Upper Sun River in the Tanana lowlands forest in central Alaska (marked at A) and had been cremated 

The burial site also shows that ancient residents of Alaska foraged for fish, birds and small mammals, as well as large game.

Scientists believe the house was occupied in summer based on the bones from salmon and immature ground squirrels found there.

Dr Potter said the infant skeletons were largely complete. The first was lying face up with knees tightly flexed towards the chest.

The child's left arm was flexed across the chest with hand near the chin and the right arm extended across the torso to the left.

The foetus seems to have originally been placed upright with knees also tightly flexed. But when discovered, the torso was prone over the legs and the left arm extended beside the back and behind the pelvis.

Scientists believe the house under which the remains were buried,  was occupied in summer based on the bones from salmon (stock image left) and immature ground squirrels (right) found there

Goods placed in the grave consisted of four antler rods and two spear points placed parallel to each other and adjacent to the foetus.

A third stone tool was placed next to the rods. They were all coated with red ochre and are the earliest knows stone tools in North America.

Dr Potter said domestic activities would have included hunting of salmon, small mammals and birds along with large mammals further afield.

Dr Potter said: 'The infants and grave goods were placed in the bottom of the pit which was immediately backfilled with sediment containing a small quantity of burned fish and small mammal specimens from earlier consumption events.

'If individuals one and two were twins, the former survived birth for at least five weeks whereas the latter died earlier in utero. So the two were not interred together during a single burial event.

'Individual one was clearly a primary interment. Thus it is possible individual two represents a secondary burial - placed in the pit after individual one died. This scenario could explain the different positions.'

He said the three year-old died later and was cremated in the residential hearth.