From a mass-grave in Magdeburg, in the former German Democratic Republic, comes an eldritch tale of unspeakable horror. The identities of the murderers and the 32 victims are equally obscure: but in a report in the 1 October issue of Nature, Reinhard Szibor of the Otto-von-Guericke-Universität in Magdeburg and his colleagues, take an unusual route to solving the gruesome riddle - by looking up the victims? noses. The nasal cavities of corpses contain pollen grains inhaled at or near the time of death. Although the air is full of pollen for most of the year, the type of pollen varies from month to month throughout the season, because different species of plant shed pollen at different times. In spring, for example, the air is full of alder (Alnus), hazel (Corylus), willow (Salix) and juniper (Juniperus), followed by combinations of birch (Betula), yew (Taxus) and poplar (Populus). By late June, the pollen of grasses and weeds such as plantain (Plantago) predominates. By analyzing the species composition of pollen up a corpse?s nose, it is possible to estimate the season of death - and, hopefully, narrow down the list of suspects. In February, 1994, 32 male skeletons were unearthed in a common grave in Magdeburg. Seemingly relics of the Second World War, the identities of victims of perpetrators were unclear: the Gestapo (Nazi forces) had been in control of the area until 1945, after which Soviet forces took over. Both groups came under suspicion. To begin with, the Gestapo had been blamed, and for a time popular wisdom went that the mortal remains of Hitler might have been among the grave?s contents. But opinion swayed towards the Soviet occupiers, who are known to have set up a prison in the area which they allegedly examined and tortured German and Russian spies between 1945 and 1948. Soviet forces are also believed to have executed a number of Soviet soldiers who refused to participate in the suppression of a revolt in the GDR on 17 June, 1953. Szibor and colleagues find support for this view in the examination of pollen extracted from the corpses. An analysis of pollen washed from the skulls revealed high concentrations of plantain - a plant that produces pollen strongly in June and July, coinciding with the 1953 revolt. This, taken together with other evidence from the bones and teeth, points an accusing finger at Soviet forces, although it does not, of course, totally exonerate the Gestapo. Pollen analysis is a workhorse technique in archaeology and palaeontology, where a ?spectrum? of pollen, preserved in soil, can be used to build up a profile of ancient vegetation. But this is one of the rare instances in which pollen has come to the aid of a murder investigation - a case, after the event, of saying it with flowers.
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