Etxeberria said scientists would try to extract DNA profiles for the bones found, but were not sure if this would be possible. Cervantes had no known descendants.
Cervantes is known to have been buried in the convent in 1616 but construction work involving the convent in the following years made it difficult to ascertain exactly where his bones lay.
Authorities had hoped that the search, which cost some 160,000 euros ($168,000) and attracted much media attention, would allow them to do the great author justice by giving him a properly signposted burial site.
Investigators believed they had solid clues to work with in the probe. Cervantes died at age 69 and wrote that he only had six teeth in the end.
He also had battle wounds. In 1571, the writer was wounded in the Battle of Lepanto, which pitted Ottoman Turkish forces against the Holy League, led by Spain. Aboard the ship La Marquesa, Cervantes was hit by three musket shots, two in the chest and one in his hand.
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