More than 200 years after the Battle of Waterloo, archaeologists have made an extremely rare find: they have been able to unearth an intact skeleton on the former battlefield 20 kilometers south of Brussels. The bones were found around the Mont Saint-Jean farm, University of Glasgow archaeologist Tony Pollard, one of the leaders of the excavation mission, said Friday. At the time, the Duke of Wellington had set up the main hospital for the Allies on the farm.
By June 18, 1815, Wellington’s troops had succeeded in pushing back the Napoleonic units. It was one of the worst battles in history. In addition to the 20,000 killed soldiers, tens of thousands were wounded. Napoleon Bonaparte’s dream of a great empire was shattered.
„I’ve never seen anything like it”
“We found something that looks like a complete human skeleton,” Pollard said of the discovery made last week. For the first time, a large pit with human remains was found. “I’ve been a battlefield archaeologist for 20 years and I’ve never seen anything like it. We don’t get any closer to the harsh reality of Waterloo,” said Pollard.
On the Napoleonic battlefields, this kind of evidence is “incredibly rare,” Pollard noted. So far, only one full human skeleton has been discovered on the former Waterloo battlefield.
The Walloon Region is involved in the excavation works. Archeology students, military personnel and veterans can participate in the work. To mark the 200th anniversary of the battle, the Waterloo Uncovered mission was launched in 2015. In 2019, the bones of three amputated legs were found at the site.
However, the excavation work was then interrupted due to the corona pandemic. It is now expected that a new two-week edition will be published every year, the Belga agency reports.
Source: Krone
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