Mass Grave of 150 Roman Soldiers Found Under Vienna Sports Field

In the time between the middle of the first century and the early second century, the Roman Legion clashed with the Germanic fighters near the Danube in an angry battle. Nearly two thousand years, outrageous evidence of the bloody event.

While renewing a sports field in Vienna in October last year, building workers discovered a mass grave. Experts from the Antiquities Department in the city of Vienna and the Novestus GmbH Archaeological Service revealed that human remains concerned the soldiers who died during a battle that included the ancient Romanian Vegets. The discovery and analysis were detailed in the statement of the Wien Museum published on Wednesday.

“In Vienna, one is always prepared to counter Roman monuments as soon as one of the sidewalk opens or opens the ground: after all, Vindobona laid the foundation stone for our city,” said Feronica Clear, a member of the CEO of Vienna for Culture and Science at the statement. Vindobona was the old and endemic Romanian military camp that will one day become Vienna. “The real feeling in this regard is the discovery of a Roman mass grave [a district in Vienna]. This unique certificate allows us to look at the beginnings of the history of our city from a different perspective. “

The mass grave includes a mixture of human remains that belong to about 150 individuals. According to preliminary investigations, they were all men between the ages of 20 and 30 and showed little evidence of infectious diseases. Experts also noted the health of good teeth significantly. Although dentists Canon are proud, the strong teeth did not save them from the injuries to which the daggers, the spears, the swords, the projectiles, and other weapons, which proved to be the cause of death.

“Based on the arrangement of skeletons and the fact that they are all males, it can be excluded that the site was linked to a similar hospital or facility, or that the epidemic was the cause of death. The injuries of the bone are clearly attributed to the fighting,” said Michael Bindand, a great anthropology in Novetus GmbH.

As if the injuries were not enough evidence, they also discovered the scales of shields, Lance tips, a helmet cheek, shoes nails, and a fragmented iron dagger. The dagger has proven that it is especially useful in dating the remains. Christophe Olere, Vice -president of the Department of Antiquities in Vienna, explained that pictures of X -rays of the mortal revealed the ancient Roman motifs: the recycling of silver wires that clearly belongs to the dagger between the middle of the first century and the early second century. These dates highlight the scarcity of this discovery.

“Since the burnings were common in the European parts of the Roman Empire about 100 m [CE]Inhuminations is an absolute exception. Christina Adler Wolf, head of the Vienna Archeology Department, said the discoveries of Roman skeletons of this period are very rare.

This discovery is also important at the local level, as it represents the first direct archaeological guide on a battle along the Danube, which is part of the eastern border of the Roman Empire. The Emperor Dometyan base from 81-96 Marca witnessed battles between the Romanian Corps and the Germanic tribes along the borders of the empire, which probably prompted Emperor Trajan’s decision to expand the beating filling after a short period. Until now, these conflicts have been witnessed only through historical sources, according to the statement.

The battle that took place thousands of years ago “could have been a reason to expand the previous small military base in the Venendobona Camp – Legion – less than seven kilometers [4.35 miles] Martin Mosser, an archaeologist from the city’s archaeological department, explained the result “may thus reveal the beginning of the History of Vienna’s Urban history.”