Ninth-century mass grave in Serbia shows targeted killing of women and children
Feb 23rd 2026
Analysis of 77 skeletons from Gomolava reveals a large, selective massacre that challenges earlier pandemic explanations and points to social upheaval in mid-ninth-century southeastern Europe.
- Archaeologists analysed 77 individuals from the Gomolava mass grave dated to the mid-ninth century.
- Two thirds of the victims were children or adolescents.
- Of 72 sexed individuals, 51 were women or girls.
- Pathogen screening found no infectious agents, contradicting earlier hypotheses that a pandemic caused the deaths.
- The victims were mostly unrelated, with the only close kinship being one mother and her two daughters.
- Isotope and genetic data show many victims grew up locally while a large number originated outside the Carpathian Basin, suggesting interactions between migrant and settled communities may have played a role in the violence.