Mass grave of over 120 Roman soldiers found under soccer field

Skeletal remains show that all victims suffered fatal battle wounds from bolts, daggers, spears, and swords.

EXPRESS Mass grave of over 120 Roman soldiers found under soccer field

A gruesome ancient mass grave of over 150 soldiers was discovered near Vienna in Austria during soccer field renovations.

The mass grave dates back to the first century CE and the Roman Empire, comprising the skeletons of soldiers, and provided archeologists with new insights into life during the time, Popular Science reported.

Almost 2,000 years ago, Roman forces entered present-day Austria and set up military outposts, with one of the largest constrictions on the Danube River, called Vindobona, researchers say.

 

The settlement eventually expanded in size, with up to 20,000 residents.

In 433 CE, the outpost was abandoned for centuries after the Romans left Vindobona to the Huns, a group of nomadic Eurasian warriors who migrated into Europe from Central Asia.

EXPRESS Mass grave of over 120 Roman soldiers found under soccer field

While researchers have had historical accounts of the combat in the region, there has been no tangible evidence until now.

While working on renovating a soccer field in Simmerling, Vienna’s neighboring town, construction workers came across several skeletal remains in October 2024 and alerted the Vienna Museum.

Archaeologists from the museum soon visited the site and made the astonishing discovery that the grave had at least 129 individuals, if not more.

With further analysis, they found that the bodies belonged to Roman legionnaires who were between 20 to 30 years old.

They all suffered fatal battle wounds from bolts, daggers, spears, and swords

“The mass grave in Simmering is the first physical evidence of fighting from this period and indicates the location of a battle in the area of ​​present-day Vienna,” said archeologist Martin Mosser, Popular Science reported.

However, archaeologists are struggling to contend with the contradiction. While these remains seemed to have been buried, ancient Romans mainly cremated bodies.

“In the Roman Empire, there were strict burial rituals, and precise rules had to be followed for the time after death,” said Kristina Adler-Wölfl, Vienna’s head of archeology, in a city announcement.

She added, “Since cremations were common in the European parts of the Roman Empire around 100 AD [CE], inhumations are an absolute exception. Finds of Roman skeletons from this period are therefore extremely rare.”

On April 4, dig leader, Michaela Binder, added in Arkeonews, “Within the context of Roman acts of war, there are no comparable finds of fighters.”