Austrian construction workers found a Roman-era mass grave under a soccer field filled with bodies that had their pelvises severely beaten up.According to bioarchaeologist Sheridan Strang, who announced the findings at a recent meeting of the Paleopathology Association, the grave, which was discovered in Vienna in 2024, contains the remains of at least 128 young men, most between 20 and 35. At least 48 showed evidence of violent trauma inflicted around the time of death, the most disturbing of which was pelvic damage. About 40 percent of the skeletons had injuries in or around that sensitive area, with one unfortunate guy found with a lance head still stuck in his pelvis.This, of course, raises the all-important question of “why, oh God why” would soldiers specifically attack someone’s genitalia. The researchers think that mounted fighters may have used lances to exploit gaps in their opponents’ armor. So somewhere around 2,000 years ago, some soldiers were ordered to go for the balls, and they did with gusto.Ancient Soldiers May Have Been Intentionally Targeted in the Groin During BattleAll the evidence found at the site suggests that the men died in battle, though exactly which battle is unclear. The area was home to the Roman military settlement of Vindobona, and Rome fought Germanic groups in the area at several points throughout its history, so it’s hard to pin down exactly which of the probably dozens of skirmishes these particular bodies came from.DNA analysis of 25 of the skeletons shows diverse ancestry, meaning that the grave was probably filled with both Roman soldiers and members of a Germanic group. Researchers are still trying to figure out more about who these people were.As Smithsonian points out, the find itself is unusual, as the remains of the dead found at Roman battlefields are rarely found in such numbers, since Romans commonly cremated their dead. Archaeologists don’t often get a big pile of ancient soldiers along with evidence of how they died.It’s going to be weird to play soccer again on this field, knowing that a bunch of ancient guys got their junk stabbed there.The post Archaeologists Found a Roman-Era Battlefield Grave Filled With Brutal Pelvic Injuries appeared first on VICE.