The archaeologists have not found remains that a priori may correspond to burials of Republican militiamen.

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The first excavations in the Cemetery of Son Carrió

Within the framework of the actions related to the IV Plan of Graves of the Balearic Islands of the Government of the Balearic Islands, the UTE formed by the Aranzadi Science Society and ATICS.S.L. is carrying out since November 20th an excavation and exhumation action to search for burials of Republican militiamen in the interior of the Cemetery of Son Carrió (Sant Llorenç des Cardassar).

During these first weeks, we worked in the garden area located to the northeast of the cemetery (to the right of the main entrance) which has been excavated in its entirety. In these tasks, it has been possible to document a large number of ordinary burials dating from the late nineteenth century and some from the mid-twentieth century. The first burials are located inside parallel ditches that could be part of old vineyard ditches from the 19th century, which were modified to be used as a burial place. At the end of the 19th century, part of the land previously used for vineyard cultivation was used to build the first cemetery in Son Carrió.

During the excavations carried out since November 20, the materials found in the graves correspond to rosaries with vitreous paste, metal crosses, ceramic and metal buttons, and fragments of leather shoes, as for the burials of the late nineteenth century and the first quarter of the twentieth century. Four more shallow burials have also been found featuring rubber footwear attributed to the 1940s-1950s. All the burials are in wooden coffins and the vast majority have rosaries between the hands.

A total of 42 burials have been documented, 6 groupings of human remains in secondary positions, with no anatomical connection, and human remains removed from the surface levels.

The forensic anthropology team has begun to work on the study of these human remains to analyze if any premortal lesion compatible with a wound produced by an act of battle can be evidenced.

Since yesterday, they are proceeded to cover this garden area, with the human remains returned to their original state, and in the coming days, they will open the left area, closer to the old door, to evaluate if there are human remains attributable to militiamen who died during the fighting in the famous battle of Mallorca in 1936 or the landing of Bayo.