THE HOLE INVESTIGATED BY TURKISH HISTORIAN MAY DATE BACK TO THE ROMAN PERIOD, BUT THE SKELETONS IN IT – MAY NOT AT ALL: SWEDISH SCIENTIST

ArmInfo
2007-05-24 18:16:00

The hole investigated by the Turkish historian may date back to the
Roman period, but the skeletons in it may not at all, they appeared
there much later, David Gaunt, a Swedish historian-scientist,
told ArmInfo correspondent, commenting upon the statement of Yusuf
Halacoglu, Chairman of the Turkish Historical Society, that the
traces of the mass burial site discovered in Mardin province near
the Turkish-Syrian border don’t concern the tragic events of 1915.

To remind, Yusuf Halacoglu said at a press-conference that
anthropological expertise of soil and bones showed that the human
remains don’t belong to Armenians as it had earlier been stated. The
Turkish historian also noted that Swedish Professor David Gaunt was
the first to accept the offer to carry out excavation and investigate
the burial site. Later, however, D.Gaunt refused to cooperate with
the Turkish scientists.

Meanwhile, D.Gaunt noted that he expressed a desire to take part in
excavation works when he received the first data about the discovery
of the burial site, the photos of 38 skeletons and the villagers’
statements that the skeletons belonged to Armenians who had become
the victims of the 1915 Genocide.

"When I arrived at the place, I had to refuse the Turkish colleagues’
offer since the site was completely destroyed and the remains of 38
bodies were removed by gendarmes. There was no real evidence left at
the place, so the object of scientific research was lacking. There was
nothing to investigate there, roughly speaking. I didn’t set myself
a task to determine what historical period the hole dates back to,
my task was to investigate the remains of human bodies and their
origin, whether they were Armenians or Syrians. If the skeletons of
people were in the hole as a result of crime, the point of the expert
examination was to investigate the human remains, this is logical,"
the scientist emphasized.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress