Grave of Roman Twins Excavated in Croatia

TROGIR, CROATIA—According to a report by the Greek Reporter, a rare infant burial was unearthed at the Roman villa site of Dragulin near the ancient city of Tragurium, modern-day Trogir. The grave is unusual because it contained twin babies who died between birth and two months of age and were buried together around the first or second century a.d. The skeletons were placed face-to-face in the same pit, suggesting that the twins were laid to rest together in a single event, possibly due to complications during their birth or because of an early childhood illness. Genetic testing revealed that the infants were fraternal twins—a boy and a girl—while bioarchaeological analysis indicated they suffered from malnutrition before birth, possibly scurvy or rickets, likely due to their mother’s health condition during pregnancy. Childhood death was not unusual in Roman societies, with some estimates putting the infant mortality rate as high as 30 percent. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. To read about the oldest hand-sewn boat in the Mediterranean, which was found off the coast of Croatia, go to "A Stitch in Time."