It was first thought that they may have belonged to plague victims as other remains found in Leith have proven to be. But now the archaeologists believe the most plausible explanation is that they were soldiers who died in the 1559 to 1560 Siege of Leith.
They think the site where their skeletons were discovered may have been a small war grave directly behind what was then Leith's town defences.
It means the men would have fought in one of the bloodiest conflicts in Leith's history, when Scottish, French and English soldiers clashed, and were alive during the time of Mary Queen of Scots.
Good article. Seems odd that there's still no indication of cause of death, especially given that they're all adult males and presumably died of battle-related causes. Those things usually leave some mark because the injury is traumatic. If it was a siege they could have been starved or diseased, I guess.