Mass grave reveals victims of a 2100-year-old massacre in war between East Asian empires
Just beyond the northern fortifications of the Great Wall of China in present-day Mongolia lies a mass grave that records a massacre. Interred about 2100 years ago, the jumbled bones of at least 17 skeletons show signs of bludgeoning, dismemberment, and decapitation. Several skulls were buried without matching bodies. Since its discovery 16 years ago, archaeologists have puzzled over the gruesome scene. They were reasonably certain the remains, found near the ruins of an ancient fortress in Mongolia, belong to soldiers slain during a historic war between the Chinese Han Dynasty and a nomadic empire of steppe warriors known as the Xiongnu. But they couldn’t tell which side’s combatants lay in the grave—a detail that could reveal who controlled the fortress during this pivotal conflict. Now, they...