Third Century Mass Grave

Archaeological researchers are among those our business supports, and today we ‘d like to tell you about a Multidisciplinary study of human remains from the 3rd century mass grave in the Roman city of Mursa, Croatia.

Collagen extraction for bulk δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N stable isotope analysis for the human samples considered in this study were conducted at the laboratories of the Centre for Applied Bioanthropology, Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb, Croatia. Between 355 and 555 mg of bone samples were first subjected to superficial mechanical abrasion, followed by treatment in 0.5M HCl until complete demineralization. Afterward, the samples were rinsed three times with purified water and gelatinized in a pH3 solution at 70ºC for 48 hours. The reflux-insoluble residues were removed using Ezee-Filter^TM separators. The supernatant was frozen for 24 hours before being freeze-dried in preparation for EA-IRMS analysis.

This analysis was conducted under our previous trading name, Sercon Analytical.

The abstract of this research is below and the full paper can be downloaded here: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0333440.

Abstract:

“During excavations in 2011, a peculiar archaeological feature representing a mass grave with seven completely preserved skeletons was discovered at the site of the Roman period city of Mursa (modern-day Osijek, Croatia). The archaeological context and direct radiocarbon dating indicate that the bodies were interred during the mid-3^rd century CE. Bioarchaeological analysis shows that all seven individuals are adult males exhibiting numerous pathological lesions (e.g., enthesopathies, injuries). Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes analysis indicates they had a mixed C₃/C₄-based vegetal diet with limited amounts of terrestrial animal protein and a very limited marine protein consumption. Ancient DNA analysis shows that individuals from the Mursa mass grave had a heterogenous ancestry. None of them show genetic continuity with the preceding local Early Iron Age population. The presented multidisciplinary analyses of the Mursa mass grave strongly suggest that the studied individuals were Roman soldiers, victims of a catastrophic event occurring as the result of the ‘Crisis of the Third Century’, most probably the battle of Mursa from 260 CE.”

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