'They basically used these dried-up wells just to throw people in': 43 skeletons found in Roman-era well may be evidence of deadly plague

In a Croatian city near a Roman necropolis, nearly 50 skeletons discovered in a deep well might be the remains of individuals who succumbed to a deadly disease during the Roman Empire's Plague of Cyprian in the mid-third century A.D. Mario Novak, a bioarchaeologist at the Institute for Archaeological Research in Zagreb, unveiled the findings at the 25th European Paleopathology Association meeting in Berlin on August 6th.

The burial site, excavated in 2008, was situated near a Roman city founded by Emperor Hadrian in 133 A.D., which was part of the province of Pannonia and called Mursa. Novak and his team stumbled upon two wells containing male skeletons with violent injuries around the time of their demise, leading them to surmise that the men might have been engaged in the Battle of Mursa in 260 A.D.

However, the recently examined skeletons were markedly different from those earlier mass burials. At least 43 people, including adults and children of both genders, were laid to rest in the well, with none displaying significant injuries. Novak posits that these individuals may have been victims of the Plague of Cyprian, a major epidemic that affected Roman troops on the Danube and possibly caused mass mortality events across the Roman Empire.

Although the specific cause of death remains uncertain, preliminary evidence suggests non-life-threatening conditions like osteoarthritis, dental cavities, and possible cases of tuberculosis and scurvy. Further DNA analysis is anticipated to provide more insights into the identities of the deceased.