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Analysis of an Iron Age mass grave in northern Serbia reveals surprising new information about the group of individuals buried here.
Gomolava is a tell site in the Pannonian Plain that was first occupied in the 6th millennium BC and remained an important place in the landscape for thousands of years. In 1971, excavations at Gomolava unearthed a mass burial pit containing the remains of 77 individuals dating to the 9th century BC. Post-holes around the pit suggest that the burial may have reused an existing disused pit-house or been marked by some kind of structure built above ground. The deceased were interred with various small bronze personal ornaments and ceramic vessels, as well as quern stones, burnt seeds, and the remains of 50-100 animals. All of these elements point to an intentional, symbolic burial ceremony.
In a new study published in Nature Human Behaviour (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-025-02399-9), researchers re-examined the human remains to find out more about this curious site. Bioarchaeological analysis showed that the group was made up of one infant, 40 children, 11 adolescents, and 24 adults, and that at least 51 of these individuals were female, with very few males represented in any age group. The people buried at Gomolava were initially interpreted as victims of a pandemic, but the new analyses found no signs of pathogens. Instead, they identified extensive violent injuries inflicted around the time of death. Most of these wounds were to the head, and indicative of close-contact blunt force injuries inflicted from behind or above. The research confirmed, too, that all individuals were buried soon after death. It therefore seems that the Gomolava grave represents the aftermath of a single deliberate and violent mass-killing event conducted nearby, making it one of the largest of its kind ever discovered in Europe.
Although such mass graves are known from prehistory, examples of this kind of demographic are usually made up of families from the same social group. Surprisingly, however, genetic analysis showed that almost no one in the group at Gomolava was closely related; indeed, most shared no relations at all, even at the level of their great-great-grandparents. Furthermore, isotopic analysis reveals that the individuals grew up in different areas, confirming that they were not part of a co-residential group either. It is likely, then, that they came from different settlements and were forcibly displaced or captured before being killed.
The mid-9th century BC was an unsettled time on the Pannonian Plain. Ways of life were changing: communities established new fortified settlements and reoccupied Bronze Age settlement mounds, leading to territorial disputes between different groups. The researchers suggest that both the violent mass killing of women and young people from disparate communities, and their subsequent commemoration, were connected to these conflicts. Gomolava, they suspect, was part of a wider struggle to assert control over land and resources.
Text: Amy Brunskill / Images: Sara Nylund after Tasic 1972; Barry Molloy
