Abstract
The subject of this multidisciplinary forensic archaeological-anthropological research is a near-complete skeleton of a woman aged 40–49 years with possible perimortal cranial trauma, found within a known archaeological site from the 7th−3rd century calBCE. The skeleton (without any artefacts) was exhumed by speleologists from a depth of 14 metres, 2.8 m below the sedimentary deposit, in a deep and narrow karst abyss known as Studňa na Jame, which is located in the district of Liptovský Mikuláš in the Low Tatra Mountains (Liptov Region, north Slovakia). Enthesopathies rank her among strong, physically-working individuals living in a mountainous terrain. Analysis of δ13C and δ15N testify to a terrestrial diet with high animal protein. A Bayesian chronological model with two 14C dates and osteological prior information suggested her death occurred in the 19th−20th centuries calCE. Oral history research in the nearby village concluded that reportedly, after 1870, an adult woman of a known name had gone missing. Genealogical and archival research produced her date of birth and later corrected the earliest possible date of missing to 1891. Analysis of nuclear and mitochondrial aDNA extracted from her molar were used for identification of the skeletal remains. Her only found living female offspring could not be sampled for DNA due to ethical reasons. Therefore, profound archival genealogical research was conducted and two living distant matrilineal relatives were identified. They were chosen as probands and were DNA matched as relatives of the studied woman, whom we refer to as LM. Hence, we could add her date of birth as new prior information in the Bayesian chronological model and, eventually, estimate her date of death to 1891–1911 calCE. In Slovakia, this is the first forensic archaeological-anthropological case of successful identification of a missing person from skeletal remains using a strong, multidisciplinary, case-specific research toolkit rooted both in sciences and humanities.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to sincerely thank Christopher Bronk Ramsey for his advice on OxCal modeling, Jakub Tamaškovič for creating a map with the location of the karst abyss Studňa na Jame, and Michael Sabo for proofreading the manuscript. Radiocarbon and stable isotopic analyses were covered by a donor from the Slovak Republic.
Funding
This research was funded by: the EU NextGenerationEU through the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Slovakia under the project No. 09I03-03-V04-00672 – Peter Barta; Slovak Research and Development Agency (APVV-23-0299) – Marian Baldovič, Silvia Bodoriková and Michaela Dörnhöferová; The Cultural and Educational Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic (KEGA 028UK-4/2023) – Michaela Dörnhöferová and Silvia Bodoriková; Scientific Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic and the Slovak Academy of Sciences (VEGA 1/0333/26) – Silvia Bodoriková and Michaela Dörnhöferová.
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Peter Barta: Writing – original draft, Methodology, Archaeological analysis, Radiocarbon dating analysis, Formal analysis; Michaela Dörnhöferová: Methodology, Formal analysis, Anthropological and palaeopathological analysis, Visualization, Formal analysis; Marián Baldovič : Methodology, DNA analysis; Gabriela Bľandová : Methodology, DNA analysis; Zuzana Šimková: Methodology, Archaeological analysis, Validation, Formal analysis; Michaela Kerešová: Methodology, Genealogical analysis, Validation; Pavel Herich: Methodology, Speleological analysis and excavation, Validation, Formal analysis; Peter Laučík: Methodology, Speleological analysis and excavation, Validation, Formal analysis; Silvia Bodoriková: Writing – review and editing, Writing – original draft, Visualization, Methodology, Anthropological and palaeopathological analysis, Formal analysis, Conceptualization.
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The authors confirm that all experiments using human dental tissues and buccal scrapings were performed in accordance with regular guidelines and regulations valid in the Slovak Republic. DNA sampling and analysis were approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava (application number ECH19018).
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41598_2025_34905_MOESM1_ESM.jpg
Supplementary Material 1 Suppl. Fig. 1. Gel electrophoresis image of PCR amplicons targeting HVR1 regions of mtDNA (positions 16159–16264 and 16282–16400). Samples include multiple ancient DNA extracts, the Demänovská Valley sample (DJ), positive controls, and a negative control. The figure demonstrates successful amplification and absence of contamination.
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Supplementary Material 2 Suppl. Fig. 2. Antemortem, perimortem and postmortem changes in the skeleton. Green arrows – antemortem traumas in L1 vertebra and 5th right rib; Blue arrow – perimortem trauma in the right parietal bone; Yellow arrows – postmortem lesions in the frontal bone, right zygomatic arch, ribs, left humerus and both fibulae.
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Barta, P., Dörnhöferová, M., Baldovič, M. et al. Multidisciplinary identification of human skeletal remains from the karst abyss in Demänovská Valley (19th–20th century calCE, Slovakia). Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-34905-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-34905-4
