Scientists have found that skeletons discovered in a centuries-old mass grave in UK belong to Scottish soldiers who were taken prisoner after the brutal Battle of Dunbar in 1650.
The findings shed new light on a 365-year-old mystery surrounding the last resting place of Scottish soldiers who died after being captured and imprisoned in Durham Cathedral and Castle during Britain's 17th Century civil wars.
Researchers at Durham University concluded that the identification of the remains as the Dunbar prisoners was "the only plausible explanation" when scientific data was analysed alongside historical information.
The Battle of Dunbar was one of the most brutal, bloody and short battles of the 17th Century civil wars. In less than an hour the English Parliamentarian army, under the command of Oliver Cromwell, defeated the Scottish Covenanting army.
Although the exact figures are not known, it is thought that around 1,700 Scottish soldiers died of malnutrition, disease and cold after being marched over 100 miles from the South East of Scotland to Durham, in North East England, where they were imprisoned in Durham Cathedral and Castle.
In 2013, during construction of a new cafe for the University's Palace Green Library, on the City's UNESCO World Heritage Site, human remains were uncovered by Durham University archaeologists.
The jumbled skeletons of at least 17 and up to 28 individuals were subsequently excavated from two burial pits.
Experts initially considered that most of the evidence was consistent with the bodies being those of the Scottish soldiers but could not draw a firm conclusion because initial radiocarbon dating analysis indicated a slightly earlier date of death than the Dunbar battle.
However, further radiocarbon dating analysis of four additional samples, in combination with the fact that some of the prisoners had smoked clay pipes - known to be in common use in Scotland after 1620 - showed that the date of death was between 1625 and 1660.
When these dates are combined with the nature of the graves; the results of earlier scientific and observational tests that established the adult skeletons were all male; the fact that the skeletons were predominantly aged between 13-25 years old; and as isotope analysis showed the skeletons were of likely Scottish origin, all this points to their identification as the prisoners from the Dunbar battle.
"Taking into account the range of detailed scientific evidence we have now, alongside historical evidence from the time, the identification of the bodies as the Scottish soldiers from the Battle of Dunbar is the only plausible explanation," said Andrew Millard, senior lecturer at the Durham University.
"This is an extremely significant find, particularly because it sheds new light on a 365-year-old mystery of what happened to the bodies of the soldiers who died," said Richard Annis, senior archaeologist, Archaeological Services Durham University.
