On 4 June 1629, the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) retourschip Batavia wrecked on Morning Reef, in the Houtman Abrolhos, approximately 65 km off the Western Australian coast.  The macabre events following the wrecking saw more than 100 individuals murdered over a three-month period, by mutineers attempting to subjugate surviving crew and passengers. The historical significance of the latter is well established, and has been reconstructed through the analysis of an extensive archaeological record, both maritime and terrestrial. With specific reference to known discoveries of human skeletal remains, four individual burials were recovered on Beacon Island between 1960 and 1964; a further six individuals were recovered from a multiple grave that was excavated in stages between 1994 and 2001.

A multi-disciplinary collaboration of national and international partners performed a remote sensing program involving magnetics and conductivity mapping and GPR profiling. This was followed by a series of targeted excavations on Beacon Island in January and February of 2015, and November 2016; this included the excavation of the recently rediscovered location of the postcranial remains of a skull originally removed in 1964, in addition to excavations in the southern region of the island where a human molar was found in 2013. The latter discovery proved fortuitous, with the excavation culminating in the discovery of an intact human burial at over one meter in depth. Further excavation in the area to the immediate north led to the discovery of a further two individuals buried in direct association, one on top of the other. In 2016, a trail of disassociated bone fragments led to the discovery of yet another individual, interestingly found in close association with various cultural materials. The search for further evidence of the 17th century occupation of the island during the final field season of 2017 culminated in the discovery of a communal grave containing the remains of 7 individuals. At present, 21 individuals conclusively associated with the Batavia mutiny have been recovered from Beacon Island.
 

The aim of the present presentation is to briefly describe the skeletal remains of the 2015-16 field seasons, including their burial context, and analyses of their demographics (sex, age and stature), including descriptions of potential palaeopathology. The communal grave discovered in 2017 containing the remains of a further seven individuals is also briefly considered relative to the ongoing anthropological analyses performed to-date.

Daniel Franklin is a Professor in the School of Social Sciences, and Director of the Centre for Forensic Anthropology at the University of Western Australia.