Workers Were Building a Roadway—and Discovered Four Mass Graves Filled With Bodies

As you read this story, you will learn the following:

• Mass graves full of soldiers have been discovered on a highway project in the Czech Republic.

• There are four graves from two battles that took place in 1745 and 1866, containing soldiers from different armies.

• Artifacts in the tomb include rifles and corresponding rifle bullets, as well as buttons, textile remnants and uniform fragments.

Four mass graves spanning two wars (the 1700s and 1800s) have been discovered in the Czech Republic, each filled with the remains of fallen soldiers and the pellets that claimed their lives.

As road crews worked to pave the future D11 highway, the Olomouc Archaeological Center discovered four different mass graves containing the bodies of soldiers killed in more than a century of conflict. One of the graves dates back to 1745 (the burial of those who died at the Battle of Zdar in the Second Silesian War), and the other three are from the Battle of Novorokitenik (which took place during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866).

The graves were discovered by metal detectors detecting bullets in the ground, according to a statement from the Archaeological Center. Archaeologist Michaela Bartos Dvorakova said the team found 18 round rifle bullets.^th century corresponding to flintlock muskets, while more modern graves employ the characteristic slender bullets of the 19th century^th– Weapons of the Century.

The first discovery was a large military grave related to the 1745 Battle of Zdar. Archaeologists found 12 skeletons, but Bartos Dvorakova said the team had not yet been able to “determine to which side the dead belonged.”

“The tomb is located within a historical battle line,” Matus Horace, an archaeologist at the Museum of East Bohemia in Hradec Králové, said in a statement. “The route of the future highway actually follows that.”

During the war, Prussian troops attacked Austrian-Saxon troops guarding the roads of the old empire. The conflict ended with Prussian rule.

Inside the tomb, in addition to 12 bodies, excavations also uncovered buttons, textile remnants, uniform fragments, bullets and personal equipment of the buried soldiers. For some, the cause of death was obvious – several people died from gunshot wounds to the head.

Of the three mass graves in 1866, two contained Prussian soldiers buried after the 1866 Battle of Novorokitenik. One of the two tombs contains 7 soldiers and the other 3 soldiers. “We found more than 10 boxes of textile materials from Prussian graves,” said anthropologist Slawomir Antonik. “Buttons, parts of uniforms, fragments of weapons and personal items such as mirrors or pocket coffee grinders have survived.”

Just over a mile away, archaeologists discovered another mass grave related to the same battle, filled with Austrian soldiers. This is the largest set of remains ever found, with 23 remains in total. Bartos Dvorakova said the remains were in such bad condition that identifying the dead was determined mainly by counting the boots tied to their lower limbs.

But there was much more than just remains filling the tomb. “We found exceptionally well-preserved textiles and military items in the tomb, such as parts of coats, pieces of equipment and personal belongings of fallen soldiers,” Bartos Dvorakova said. The most unique items are a silver pocket watch with a dog pattern and a gold franc cast in 1854.

In addition to the bullets, the team also found a saber scabbard accessory that may have belonged to a non-commissioned officer in the Austrian army. “If more pieces of equipment are found, it is likely that a non-commissioned officer was among the dead,” Horace said. “Based on current information, these burials represent ordinary soldiers.”

The Olomouc Archaeological Center will further examine the find, and the Museum of East Bohemia hopes to identify the military materials and place them in a historical context. After analysis, plans called for the reburial of the soldiers’ remains.

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