Researchers are now using DNA analysis and forensic studies to uncover the identities and histories of the people buried inside the monastery tombs. (Image: Culture Institute of Barcelona)Archaeologists in Barcelona have uncovered the skeletal remains of Elisenda of Montcada, one of medieval Europe’s most influential queens, during an excavation marking the 700th anniversary of the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Pedralbes.The investigation, carried out inside the historic monastery founded in 1326, revealed 25 skeletons spread across eight tombs. Alongside the queen’s remains, researchers also discovered several mysterious burials, including men with stab wounds to their skulls and a pregnant woman whose partially mummified remains still contained a foetus.Queen Elisenda was the wife of James II of Aragon and played a major political and religious role in medieval Catalonia. After her husband’s death in 1327, she spent the rest of her life near the monastery she had founded in Barcelona.When experts opened her tomb, they found her bones stored inside a small wooden box within a larger burial chamber divided into two sections. The scholars think that the strange arrangement represented her double status as queen on one hand and a very pious lady on the other.It appears that, according to preliminary analysis, Elisenda died at around the age of 70, suffering from osteoarthritis of old age. While she was buried in plain monastic robe, some fragments of exquisite golden embroidery silk as well as fragrant herbs like rosemary and myrtle were discovered in her burial place.Also Read | Do humans carry ancient Homo erectus genetic legacy? New study says it’s possibleDuring the excavation, many more surprising discoveries have been made.In the tomb of Sobirana Olzet, believed to be the monastery’s first abbess, researchers identified facial injuries likely caused by a knife shortly before or during her death. Another grave, once thought to belong to a medieval knight, actually contained the remains of two women and three children. One of the women still had a preserved ponytail attached to her skull.Story continues below this adPerhaps the most puzzling discovery came from the tomb associated with Francesca Saportella, the monastery’s second abbess and the queen’s niece. Archaeologists found the remains of at least nine individuals buried there over different periods. Among them were four male skulls, all bearing stab wounds, though historians are still unsure how the men died or why they were buried at the monastery.Also Read: In Egypt, a 2,200-year-old circular temple to god of mud is unearthedThe same tomb also contained the partially mummified torso of a pregnant woman with the remains of a foetus estimated to be between 20 and 23 weeks old. Researchers additionally recovered medieval papers, parchments, and fragments of sheet music that are now being preserved and studied.Scientists plan to continue DNA analysis on the remains to confirm identities, uncover family relationships and search for signs of ancient diseases. Full results from the archaeological investigation are expected by mid-2027.