The only complete skeleton from the Battle of Waterloo found in the last 200 years was discovered under a parking lot, and that's not even the most interesting thing about it.
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Belgian archaeologist Dominique Bosquet examines the remains
of Friedrich Branft killed in the Battle of Waterloo
[Credit: Reuters/Francois Lenoir] |
The skeleton belongs to a Hanoverian man with a hunchback, the archaeologists announced. The find is truly unique, though, because the musket ball that killed the man was still stuck in the skeleton's ribs.The skeleton was first discovered in 2012, but archaeologists have just now revealed the details and significance of the find.
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The remains of Friedrich Branft, 22, is the first complete skeleton
to be recovered from the battle of Waterloo 200 years ago
[Credit: Reuters/Dominique Bosquet] |
One historian, Gareth Glover, believes he knows exactly who the skeleton belongs to: Friedrich Brandt, a 23-year-old private in the King's German Legion of George III. Brandt was killed by a musket ball,
The Independent reports.
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The musket ball that killed the young soldier was found lodged between his ribs
at the Waterloo battlefield [Credit: Reuters/Dominique Bosquet] |
The skeleton was found with a piece of wood with the initials "F. C. B.," lending credence to Glover's suggestion. Only three German soldiers bore those initials, and one was on a different battlefield than where the skeleton was discovered. The find is also unique because the skeleton is still intact — Glover told The Independent that most Napoleonic-era soldiers' remains were ground into fertilizer in the 1830s and 1840s.
Source: The Week [April 06, 2015]
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