For some time between the mid-first century and the beginning of the second century, the Roman fighters clashed with Germanic fighters near the Danube River in a fierce battle. After about two thousand years, the severe evidence of the bloody incident has been revealed.
Renewing a playground in Vienna in October last year, construction workers discovered a collective grave. Experts from the Vienna City Archaeological Department and the Archaeological Service Provider Novtus GMBH revealed that human remains were probably related to soldiers who died during the battle associated with ancient Roman fighters. Discovery and analysis is detailed in a vein museum statement Published on Wednesday.
Vanna Kap-Hunler, Vienna’s Executive City Councilor for culture and science, Vienna’s executive city councilor said, “In Vienna, it is always prepared to face the Roman marks, as soon as a pavement opens or opens the earth: finally, Vindobona laid the foundation of our city.” Vindobona was ancient Roman military camp and disposal which would one day become Vienna. “A true sensation in this regard, Simarring (a district in Vienna) is the discovery of a Roman month tomb. This unique testimony allows us to see the beginning of our city history from a different perspective.”
The mass grave includes a thunder of human remains belonging to about 150 persons. According to preliminary investigation, all those men were mostly between 20 and 30 years of age and showed very little evidence of infectious diseases. Experts notablely mention good dental health. While the dentists were proud, strong teeth did not protect them from continuous injuries from daggers, spears, swords, projection and other types of weapons, which proved to be the cause of his death.
“Based on the arrangement of skeletons and the fact that they are all male remains, it can be dismissed that the site was associated with a hospital or a similar feature, or that an epidemic was the cause of death. The bones were responsible for clearly fighting the injuries,” said “Myikela Binder, Senior Anthropologist At Novetous Gamb.
As such injuries were not enough evidence, he also detected armor scales, lance tips, a helmet cheek pieces, shoes nails and a fragmented iron dagger. The dagger proved to be useful in dating especially the remains. The X-ray images of the sheath detected the typical ancient Roman decoration: Silver Wire Inle, which clearly reflects the dagger between the mid-first century and the early CE of the second century, explained the deputy head of the Vienna City Archaeology Department to Christopy Oler. These dates highlight how rare this discovery is.
Christina Adler-Wolfal, head of the Vienna City Archaeology Department, said, “Since the crematorium was common in the European parts of the Roman Empire around 100 AD (CE), so inhuman parts are an absolute exception. The discovery of Roman skeletons from this period is very rare,” said the Vienna City Archaeological Department’s Head Christina Adler Wolfal.
This discovery is also important locally, as it represents direct archaeological evidence before a fight. Danube limsWhich made part of the eastern border of the Roman Empire. The rule of Emperor Dominitian from 81–96 CE witnessed a fight between the Roman army and the Germanic tribes along the boundary of the empire, which probably inspired Emperor Trojan’s decision to extend the decision of Danube Limes some time. Till now, those struggles were testified only by historical sources, according to the statement.
Thousands of years ago, the fight “Therefore” less than seven kilometers (4.35 mi) from the site, the legendary camp could have been a reason for the expansion of the small military base in Vindobona, “Martin Moser, an archaeologist at the city archeology department, explained. The discovery could thus reveal the onset of Vienna’s urban history.”
