Mass grave with 77 bodies discovered in Serbia Possible massacre

Archaeologists re-examining a 2,800-year-old burial site in Serbia say a mass grave containing 77 individuals may be evidence of a large-scale violent episode during the early Iron Age, challenging earlier assumptions that the victims had died from disease.

A gruesome mass grave containing 77 bodies stacked together has been uncovered at the ancient site of Gomolava, overlooking the Sava River near the city of Novi Sad, EdinburghLive reveals.

The skeletal remains, believed to be around 2,800 years old, were re-examined by an international team of archaeologists, including researchers from the University of Edinburgh.

Initially, researchers believed the burial site might represent a village community wiped out by disease.

“We were expecting a village community that all died when a disease came along,” said Barry Molloy, associate professor at University College Dublin.

However, further investigation revealed evidence suggesting a violent episode instead.

“What we found at Gomolava tells us that as things recovered in this area moving into the Iron Age, reasserting control over landscapes could include widespread and extremely violent episodes between competing groups,” Associate Professor Molloy said.

Some of the remains show signs of trauma, including fractured skulls and injuries consistent with arrows, spears or swords, according to reports cited by the Daily Star. However, many of the skeletons displayed no visible signs of violence, deepening the mystery.

DNA analysis provided another unexpected finding: very few of the individuals were related to each other. Researchers noted that many of the victims were young women and girls, who in ancient societies might have been considered valuable as captives or slaves.

Despite the violence, the burial itself appeared unusually deliberate.

“Not only had the bodies not been stripped of their valuables, offerings were made in what must have been a respectful ritual,” Molloy said. “There's clearly a choice being made about who's being killed.”

The research involved scholars from University College Dublin, University of Edinburgh, University of Copenhagen and the Museum of Vojvodina.

The remains were carefully arranged in the grave and buried alongside personal belongings, including brooches, hairbands, bracelets and rings. Animal remains — described as the “meat-bearing parts” of pigs, sheep and goats — were also placed among the bodies.

“They're trying to show they have the power to dispose of things that would be valuable to keep,” Molloy added.

Researchers also found clues suggesting the victims may not have died in direct combat.

“In most instances, the attacker and victim were not engaged in a face-to-face confrontation,” the researchers wrote. “Attackers were potentially taller than their victims or on horseback ... or the victims were in a compromised position, such as on the ground or fleeing.”

The team concluded that the victims may have been gathered together before being killed.

“They had been gathered together ‘by the threat of attack, drawn to a place of perceived greater safety or even brought involuntarily as captives’,” the researchers said.

According to Molloy, the evidence suggests the victims likely came from different settlements.

“It's a group of people from different villages, all killed in the same place, at the same time,” he told the journal Science.

The study suggests the victims may have been migrants or refugees, and that the killings could have been staged as a public spectacle intended to intimidate others and assert control over the region.

By Sabina Mammadli