The analysis suggests that the sale of bones from the fallen in the field could explain why so few human remains were found
Thousands of soldiers lost their lives in the bloody battle of Waterloo, but hardly any traces of their remains can be found. An archaeological investigation now reveals that the bones of most of the victims fueled a sinister trade as they would have been used to make fertilizers. This is supported by a study from the University of Glasgow, which suggests that the sale of bones from those who fell in the field might explain why so few human remains were found.
The study, published in the Journal of Conflict Archeology, concludes that this hypothesis is “highly likely.” However, Professor Tony Pollard, the lead researcher on the work, points out that “it is not a closed case” and that the mystery “remains open”. “At least three newspaper articles from the 1820s refer to the importation of human bones to produce fertilizer. One of the main markets for this commodity was the British Isles,” says Pollard.
Experts have incorporated original data with descriptions and drawings of the battlefields made by people who visited them in the days immediately following Napoleon’s defeat. These include the letters and personal memoirs of a Scottish merchant living in Brussels at the time, James Ker, who visited the site of the war and described the men who died in his arms. The stories of those visitors describe the exact situation of three mass graves that are said to contain up to 13,000 bodies.
But Professor Pollard considers it unlikely that these new data will lead to the discovery of a mass grave with victims of the battle that ended a 23-year war. “The bodies of the deceased have clearly been discarded in numerous places on the battlefield, so it is surprising that there is no reliable evidence that a mass grave has been found,” he says.
Source: La Verdad
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