The scenic ski resort town of Peio in northern Italy revealed a dark chapter from history when the Presena glacier retreated in 2012, revealing the bodies of Austrian soldiers believed to have died in the final days of World War I.
Photo: Office for Archaeological Finds, Autonomous Province of Trento
According to The Telegraph, the bodies were partially mummified, preserved by the ice at extremely low temperatures. Extreme cold itself led to several deaths when Peio was a strategic location on the front lines of the “White War,” where Austrian and Italian armies clashed in ice trenches at altitudes of 6500 feet and above. Since the 1990s, higher temperatures have melted more glacial ice, revealing the mummified bodies and preserved personal effects of several soldiers, some of whom had been declared missing in action.
Photo: Office for Archaeological Finds, Autonomous Province of Trento
The most recent of these were found by Maurizio Vicenzi, director of Peio's war museum. According to the article, they appeared to be part of a medical/rescue team, and were buried upside down, possibly during the final battle in the region in September 1918. Forensics experts are still attempting to identify the soldiers; although they have DNA samples, spotty records from wartime make it difficult to find leads to their living relatives. The bodies are now interred in the nearby San Rocco cemetery.
Visit The Telegraph for the full story and more historical background on Peio and the White War.