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This study was based on the data from the casefiles of the Institute of Forensic Medicine (IFM) in Kosovo, to analyse and interpret trauma observed on individuals recovered from a mass grave in Rudnica, Serbia. The intention was to determine if there is a pattern of trauma characteristic of this mass grave that informs about the manner of death and whether this is consistent with witness testimonies. The study considers the limitations of such analysis and interpretation, with special consideration of the completeness of the remains. The casefiles of 54 individuals recovered from the Rudnica mass grave from April to June 2014 were examined. A descriptive analysis was undertaken of the demographic profile of the sample, primary site of burial, completeness of the bodies, type and distribution of trauma, and the documented cause of death. All the individuals identified from the Rudnica mass grave were male aged from 14 to 96 years at time of death originating from four separate primary events with two known primary burial sites. Overall, 56% of the bodies were almost complete, 35% incomplete, and 9% complete. Discussion of the determination of completeness is included herein. The only type of trauma documented on the remains was gunshot wound trauma with the distribution of injuries concentrated on the trunk, followed by the limbs and head/neck regions. The cause of death was established in 56% of the cases. A pattern of trauma on the skeletal remains from the Rudnica mass grave was established based on the distribution and type of trauma documented from the dataset of each individual. These findings can be used as a basis for future studies in this field of research by taking a similar approach on larger samples and addressing the limitations encountered here.

The history of the British Isles and Ireland is characterized by multiple periods of major cultural change, including the influential transformation after the end of Roman rule, which precipitated shifts in language, settlement patterns and material culture1. The extent to which migration from continental Europe mediated these transitions is a matter of long-standing debate2–4. Here we study genome-wide ancient DNA from 460 medieval northwestern Europeans—including 278 individuals from England—alongside archaeological data, to infer contemporary population dynamics. We identify a substantial increase of continental northern European ancestry in early medieval England, which is closely related to the early medieval and present-day inhabitants of Germany and Denmark, implying large-scale substantial migration across the North Sea into Britain during the Early Middle Ages. As a result, the individuals who we analysed from eastern England derived up to 76% of their ancestry from the continental North Sea zone, albeit with substantial regional variation and heterogeneity within sites. We show that women with immigrant ancestry were more often furnished with grave goods than women with local ancestry, whereas men with weapons were as likely not to be of immigrant ancestry. A comparison with present-day Britain indicates that subsequent demographic events reduced the fraction of continental northern European ancestry while introducing further ancestry components into the English gene pool, including substantial southwestern European ancestry most closely related to that seen in Iron Age France