London, England (CNN) -- English archaeologists said Friday they are trying to figure out why 97 babies were buried around a Roman-era villa that may have been used as a brothel.

Because childbirth in Roman times was more dangerous than it is today, infant mortality was high and infant burials are common at Roman villas. However, the massive number found at the site in Buckinghamshire, just northwest of London, is far higher than at any other Roman villa in Britain, the Buckinghamshire County Council said.

Recent examination of the Roman-era bodies shows "the infants almost all died around the time of birth, suggesting this may be an example of deliberate infanticide," the council said.

That was legal in Roman times if the mother was a slave, and a large number of deliberately killed babies may show someone wanted to keep the mothers working, it said.

The villa was occupied for several hundred years during the Roman era, and there is a theory it may have been used as a brothel, which would explain the high number of unwanted babies, the council said.