Case of myositis ossificans traumatica on one skeleton from Viminacium

Abstract

Viminacium is located close to the confluence of the Mlava and the Danube, near the village of Stari Kostolac. It rep-resents an extremely complex site with a long history of re-search. There was a large number of necropoles in its’ sur-roundings: late prehistoric necropoles with bi-ritual burials, sev-eral Roman necropoles, also with bi-ritual burials, as well as several necropoles with inhumation from different medieval periods. In ancient Viminacium, so far, four graves with mass burial, mainly skulls with a slightly lesser amount of bones from the postcranial skeleton, have been found. In the archaeological context, there are two funeral practices: incineration and inhumation. Within them, we can distinguish individual, group and mass burials. Under individual burials we comprehend the placing of skeletal remains of one person inside a grave pit, a grave construction, or a built tomb. Group funerals involve the laying of skeletal remains of two or more persons, usually members of one family, who are buried at the same or different period of time, into a grave pit, a grave construction or a built tomb. Mass burials involve the storage of skeletal remains of more individuals, usually at the same period of time, under specific circumstances (massive death toll due to natural disasters, massive death toll as the consequence of various epidemics, as well as massive death toll as a result of armed conflicts, etc.). Secondary mass burials are mostly partial, and much more attention and care is dedicated to the skulls. On one of the necropoles of Viminacium, Pećine, in grave no. 4924, skeletal remains, mostly skulls, of more than 150 individuals were discovered. In this paper, we will try to explain this phenomenon, on the example of grave no. 4924, and show all possible causes for mass skull burials at ancient Viminacium.