A pair of mass grave containing 25 Crusaders who were slaughter during a 13th century war have been unearthed in Lebanon.
A team of international archaeologist uncovered the gruesome scene at Sidon Castle on the eastern Mediterranean coast of south Lebanon.
Wounds on the remains suggests the soldiers died at the end of swords, maces and arrows, and charring on some bones means they were burned after being dropped into the pit.
Other remains show markings on the neck, which likely means these individuals were captured on the battlefield and later decapitated.
Historical records written by crusaders show that Sidon was attacked and destroyed in 1253 by Mamluk troops, and again in 1260 by Mongols, and the soldiers found in the mass graves likely perished in one of these battles.
A pair of mass grave containing 25 Crusaders who were slaughter during a 13th century war have been unearthed in Lebanon
The Crusades were a series of religious wars fought between 1095 and 1291, in which Christian invaders tried to claim the near East, including Lebanon where the 25 dead soldiers were found.
The mass graves were found within the town walls and were rectilinear grave pits that also contained artifacts that belonged to the Crusaders.
'Within the grave pit (burial 110) a wide variety of artefacts were observed dispersed amongst the human and non-human bones, with no immediate patterning evident, reads the study published in the journal PLOS ONE.
'Metal finds included copper alloy buckles and fittings, at least two different sizes of iron nails, other iron fittings, a silver coin, a silver finger-ring and a single copper alloy arrowhead.
A team of international archaeologist uncovered the gruesome scene at Sidon Castle on the eastern Mediterranean coast of south Lebanon
The mass graves were found within the town walls and were rectilinear grave pits that also contained artifacts that belonged to the Crusaders
'Other finds included medieval potsherds, residual Persian period potsherds, glass fragments, and a small piece of
