A mass grave of 150 Roman soldiers found under a sports field in Vienna

Sometime between the middle of the first century and the beginning of the second century, Roman legionnaires encountered German fighters near the Danube River in a fierce battle. Almost two thousand years later, horrifying evidence of the bloody event came to light.

While renovating a sports field in Vienna last October, construction workers opened a mass grave. Experts from the Vienna City Department of Archeology and the Provider of the Archaeological Service Novetus GmbH have revealed that the human remains probably belonged to soldiers who died during a battle involving ancient Roman legionnaires. The opening and analysis is detailed at the Wien Museum statement Posted on Wednesday.

“In Vienna, one is always ready to meet Roman traces when one opens the sidewalk or opens the Earth: after all, Vindobona laid the foundation stone of our city,” Veronica Kaop-Hasler, an executive advisor on culture and science of Vienna, said in the statement. Vindobona was the ancient Roman military camp and a settlement that will one day become Vienna. “The real feeling in this regard is the discovery of a Roman mass grave at the boils (an area in Vienna). This unique testimony allows us to look at the beginning of the history of our city from a different point of view.”

The mass grave includes a mixture of human remains belonging to about 150 individuals. According to initial investigations, they were all men between the ages of 20 and 30 and showed little evidence of infectious diseases. Experts also noted remarkably good teeth health. While the dentists would be proud, the strong teeth did not save them from injuries suffered by daggers, spears, swords, shells and other types of weapons that turned out to be their cause of death.

“Based on the skeleton arrangement and the fact that they are all male remains, it can be ruled out that the site is associated with a hospital or like an institution or that the epidemic is the cause of death. Bone injuries are clearly attributed to a fight,” says Michaela Bindl, a senior anthropologist at Novetus GmbH.

As if the injuries were not enough evidence, they also find armor for armor, buttons tips, a cheek piece for a helmet, shoe nails and fragmented iron dagger. The dagger proved to be particularly useful in acquaintance with the remains. The X-ray of the sheath revealed typical ancient Roman decorations: silver wire inlays, which clearly dates the dagger between the middle of the first century and the beginning of the second century, explained Christoph öllerer, deputy manager of the Department of Archeology of Vienna. These dates emphasize how rarely this discovery is.

“Since cremations were common in the European parts of the Roman Empire, about 100 Bov (CE), the impacts are an absolute exception. The findings of the Roman skeletons of this period are extremely rare,” says Christina Adler-Veofl, head of the Department of Archeology of the city in Vienna.

The discovery is also important at the local level as it represents the first direct archaeological evidence of a battle along Danube Limiwhich compiled part of the eastern border of the Roman Empire. The rule of Emperor Domitian from 81-96 BC sees battles between the Roman legionnaires and the German tribes along the border of the empire, which probably prompted Emperor Traian’s decision to expand the Danube Lims, a little later. So far, these conflicts have been testified only by historical sources, according to the statement.

The battle, which took place thousands of years ago, “therefore could be the reason for the expansion of the former small military base in the Vindobon Legionary Camp – less than seven kilometers (4.35 miles) from the place,” explained Martin Toser, an archeologist from the city department of archeology. The finding “can reveal the beginning of the urban history of Vienna.”