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An ‘unprecedented’ mass grave of Roman soldiers has been uncovered in Vienna.
The find was made last autumn by construction workers who were renovating a football pitch in the Simmering district of the city.
In April, experts at the Vienna Museum held a press conference about the grave, which is believed to be linked to ‘a catastrophic event in a military context’ in the 1st century.
At least 129 bodies have been found, along with many dislocated bones. Almost every skeleton showed signs of injury, particularly to the head, torso, and pelvis areas, indicating that they were warriors who were killed in battle – perhaps involving German tribes.
Carbon analysis has dated the bones to between AD 80 and AD 130. All of the dead were male and between 20 and 30 years of age. So far, however, only one victim has been confirmed as a Roman legionary.
‘Within the context of Roman acts of war, there are no comparable finds of fighters,’ said Michaela Binder, who led the dig. ‘There are huge battlefields in Germany where weapons were found. But finding the dead – that is unique for the entirety of Roman history.’
Along with the skeletons, a number of artefacts were found in the grave, such as armour and helmet cheek-protectors, as well as a dagger specific to the time period.
Although soldiers in the Roman Empire were typically cremated until the 3rd century, the pit in which the bodies were deposited suggests a hasty and disorganised burial.
‘The most likely theory at the moment is that this is connected to the Danube campaigns of Emperor Domitian – so that’s between AD 86 and AD 96,’ said Kristina Adler-Wölfl, head of the Vienna city archaeological department.
Archaeologists said that they had also found signs of the early settlement that would later become the city of Vienna itself.
