At an altitude of 2,309 meters, on the site of Cima Cadi, in the Italian Alps, archaeologists have unearthed the remains of twelve Austro-Hungarian riflemen who fell in June 1918. If the discovery of bodies in glaciers or alpine rocks is not rare, this one immediately struck the researchers with a strange detail: more than 80% of the bones and teeth had a purplish-red coloring, like if they had been tinted with wine.
These men, aged 18 to 35, probably died during the Austro-Hungarian offensive carried out against the Italian positions between June 12 and 13, 1918. Beyond the military context, it was the unusual state of their skeletons which mobilized a team from the universities of Milan and Padua: how to explain such color after more than a century spent in an Alpine trench?
To answer this question, the researchers published a detailed study in the journal Scientific Reports. By analyzing the soil, vegetation and micro-fauna around the pit, they showed that the origin of these spots was neither a pathology nor a funeral rite, but a natural process. The roots of juniper, a shrub that colonizes the slopes of Cima Cadi, penetrated the crater formed by an explosion and wrapped around the bones. These roots release phlobaphenes, natural pigments which have infiltrated the porous structure of the bones.
A race against time
The authors explain that the acidity of the soil and the freezing and thawing cycles favored the diffusion of these pigments, transported by rainwater or melting snow, from the roots to the skeletons. The pigments have accumulated on the surface and sometimes even in the medullary cavities, giving this characteristic purplish-red appearance. This table describes the conditions of an emergency burial: the bodies were not placed in coffins, but placed in a shell crater approximately 1.5 meters deep, then covered with a thin layer of earth.
According to Popular Mechanics, the investigation doesn’t stop at the coloring of the bones. By cross-referencing biological data with an officer’s diary kept by a descendant, archaeologists have reconstructed part of the circumstances of the soldiers’ deaths and burials. The presence of larvae of flies and beetles adapted to high altitude indicates that the bodies remained exposed to the open air for several days before being covered. In this front sector, the management of the dead responded to operational imperatives rather than ceremonial considerations.
Examination of the trauma confirms the violence of the fighting: several skeletons bear impacts consistent with high-speed projectiles and others have lesions attributed to the deflagration of explosive devices. Conversely, certain parts of the body have been better preserved, notably those remaining enclosed in boots or pieces of leather equipment. But again, the acidity of the leather ended up contributing to the degradation of the bone it enveloped.
For the authors, the interest of this discovery goes beyond the sole case of Cima Cadi. “This multidisciplinary approach offers valuable insights into how elements of the Alpine environment modify and document the history of a mass grave”they summarize. The red of the bones is not a mysterious sign but a testimony to the long-term interaction between local flora, soil chemistry and human remains.
