Christchurch City Council says bones discovered on the surface of graves at Bromley Cemetery are animal bones.
Five bones were found on five separate graves and thought to be potentially human.
Police were initially called, but the investigation was handed to the city council on Sunday.
A council spokesperson says an archaeologist and an animal bone expert have been assessing the remains and will continue to search the cemetery for any more.
The senior curator of anthropology at Canterbury Museum, Roger Fyfe, had earlier said the bones could have been lifted by liquefaction.
