DNA May Help Identify Victims of Spanish Civil War

When the Spanish Civil War ended in 1939, many civilians had disappeared - executed and buried in unmarked mass graves. Some estimates suggest that 2,000 mass graves may hold the remains of up to 150,000 victims.

Gumiel de Izán is one of the known mass graves, and a few years ago, archaeology volunteers began exhuming the bones of those buried there. A social anthropologist was present to supervise the recording of memories of elders in the nearby village. Using DNA testing it is hoped that relatives of the missing will finally have answers as to where their loved ones are buried.

Read more at  Gathering the Genetic Testimony of Spain’s Civil War Dead

Image is a screenshot from the article on Scientific American (https://www.scientificamerican.com/)