Off the coast of Australia found a mass grave
Scientists from the University of Western Australia has uncovered a mass grave of five people who died during the collapse of the Dutch ship “Batavia”, which in 1629 swooped down on the reefs in 60 kilometers from the Australian coast. This writes the online edition of Science Alert.
During the disaster of the 341 people on Board the ship, 60 were killed, and the rest of the crew and passengers tried to get to the island beacon, which has since been called the “graveyard of Batavia” or “Island murders”. Due to the small reserves of fresh water among the survivors mutiny. It resulted in the death of 115 people, including women and children.
The scientists found five people were killed in the first days after the crash. This indicates that their bodies were buried carefully, not quickly hidden, as it happened with the corpses of victims of the insurgency.
The data of radioisotope analysis indicate that these people moved to the Netherlands so likely to get a job with the East India company.
Encuentran en Australia los restos de varios pasajeros del Batavia, buque insignia de la Compañía Holandesa de las Orientales India. Seguramente murieron deshidratados.https://t.co/0Gj7rtaKX3
— Iverem (@Iverempc) December 8, 2017
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The reason for the shipwreck was the tense situation between the head of the expedition captain who stole the ship from the planned course into unknown waters. As a result, “Batavia” ran into reefs and sank.