Human remains found on the Aletsch glacier may be decades, if not nearly a century old.

Bones and personal effects were found by mountain guides on the receding glacier in Valais.

Police say forensic experts are examining the remains.

In the area, they found wooden skis and poles, and coins from the 1920s.

The local Walliser Bote newspaper speculates they could be the bodies of four mountain climbers who went missing in 1926.

The men left a refuge when the weather suddenly turned and were never seen again.