Tragedy after the mass grave in British university

Archaeologists confirm the bones buried in mass graves in northern England belong to Scottish prisoners, including 13-year-old children.

Secrets of mass graves in universities

Using scientific analysis and historical notes, the team concluded that those below the tomb on the Durham University campus were Scottish soldiers captured in the Dunbar battle in 1650 and then died in Durham due to conditions. hard.

The skeleton of a young prisoner buried in a mass grave found in Durham University.(Photo: Richard Annis).

Archaeologists at the University of Durham in the north of England found mass graves while preparing to build a café in the school library. The tomb contains at least 17 skeletons and the actual number can be up to 29.

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According to Durham University website, about 1,700 Scottish soldiers died of starvation, illness and cold after walking more than 1,600km from southeast Scotland to Durham in northeast England, where they were imprisoned in the castle and Durham church.

A picture depicting Dunbar's battle by Andrew Carrick Gow in 1886. (Wikimedia Commons).

Scientists used the method of determining the age of carbon radioactivity and the detection of the remains of these children and men buried in the period of 1625-1660. Elemental analysis in the body indicates that they are definitely Scottish. The existence of clay pipes used in Scotland since 1620 helped the team conclude that the man buried in the tomb was male between the ages of 13-25 and they were all prisoners of war from Dunbar.

1. The mass grave of 7,000 years revealed a bloody massacre

The Dunbar battle was one of the fiercest and bloodiest battles of the 17th-century British civil war. Within less than an hour, Oliver Cromwell's army defeated the Scottish army.

Images of Durham castle (left) and Durham church (right), where 3,000 Scottish soldiers were imprisoned after the Dunbar battle.(Photo: Steve FE-Cameron / Wikimedia Commons).

According to archaeologist Richard Annis of Durham University, there may be many other mass graves from the Battle of Durham under buildings on campus.

Historians estimate that 300 - 5,000 people die in battle. He captured 6,000 Scottish soldiers as prisoners. About 1,000 Scottish soldiers died on the way from Dunbar to Durham due to hunger, exhaustion and illness. He executed a large number of prisoners and others fled, leaving the remaining 3,000 people imprisoned in Durham castle and church.