This is the second lamellar armor that can be described as complete, after the artifact excavated in Derecske in 2017.Continue reading
Over 150 skeletons and numerous artifacts are expected to be unearthed during the recently launched excavation of the mass grave No. IV of the Mohács National Memorial Site (southwestern Hungary), say experts.
Gábor Bertók, director of the Janus Pannonius Museum (JPM), told MTI that, according to current knowledge, there are five mass graves at the memorial site in Sátorhely, and the excavation of two of them is being carried out with government support. The excavation of grave No. III, which contained more than 300 skeletons, was completed earlier, and now excavations have begun at grave No. IV, in cooperation with the JPM, the University of Szeged (SZTE) and the Danube-Drava National Park Directorate (DDNPI).
The goal is to ensure that the heroic soldiers receive their final honors in a dignified manner half a millennium after the battle, and to present one of the most important, fate-turning historical events of Hungarian history to visitors in a new, interactive exhibition,
Gábor Bertók stressed.
He recalled that the preliminary anthropological findings of the remains of mass grave No. III, excavated between 2020-22, confirm that the victims of the execution after the Battle of Mohács (August 29, 1526) may have been buried in the grave. Réka Neményi, head of the JPM Archaeology Department’s excavation team, said that the most important aim of the current work is to compare the results with those of grave No. III.
Twelve skeletons have so far been excavated and 63 numbered, but it is estimated that more than 150 skeletons will be recovered in total.
György Pálfi, Head of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Szeged, who is in charge of the anthropological research, gave detailed information on the on-site examination of the first twelve skulls – and skeletons. The majority of the mass graves contain the remains of young men who were thrown into the ground in a disorderly manner. In ten of the first twelve skeletons, cuts were observed that could be associated with executions. In half of the cases, injuries were specifically recorded that could not have occurred in battle.
The expert anthropologist explained that the skeletons found in mass grave No. III were mainly those of young men, but there were also some older men, a few women and even one or two children. All this suggests that members of the Ottoman army may have taken prisoners outside the battlefield, in the Hungarian camps, and that they may have been victims of the mass execution of August 31, 1526, together with the captured soldiers.
The excavated remains are planned to be laid to rest on the 500th anniversary of the battle, on August 29, 2026, in a crypt in a chapel to be built on the site.
Until then, and even afterwards, the results, lessons learned and interesting facts of the mass grave excavations will be published in numerous scientific articles, summaries, theses and doctoral dissertations, said György Pálfi.
Via MTI, Featured image: Facebook/Janus Pannonius Múzeum