The gruesome discovery was made at a farm in Belgium by Waterloo Uncovered, a UK charity that combines archaeology with veteran care.
The epic battle was fought near Waterloo village, south of Brussels, on June 18, 1815. Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by the Duke of Wellington’s combined allied army of 68,000, aided by about 45,000 Prussians under Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher.
While thousands were killed during the battle, only two complete skeletons have ever been discovered at the site.
Two years ago, the organization unearthed a complete human skeleton at Mont-Saint-Jean farm in Belgium. The site is believed to have served as Wellington’s field hospital.
A team of archaeologists, veterans and serving personnel has returned this month to the same site to continue the work. Led by Tony Pollard, a professor of conflict history and archaeology at the University of Glasgow and the charity’s archaeological director, they unearthed a “unique battle clearance trench” at the hospital site.
Veteran support charity Waterloo Uncovered is carrying out a targeted excavation at Mont-Saint-Jean farm in Belgium, which served as the Duke of Wellington’s field hospital during the battle in 1815. Chris van Houts/PA
The trench is thought to have been designed to clear the hospital of gore after the battle. It contained “deposits of human and animal remains separated by a barrier of ammunition boxes stripped from soldier’s leather satchels,” according to a press release published by the [University of Glasgow](https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_1109324_en.html) this week.
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A pile of amputated limbs and the remains of several military horses have been excavated at the site of the [Battle of Waterloo](https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/12/science/limbs-horses-battle-waterloo-scli-intl/index.html).
The gruesome discovery was made at a farm in Belgium by Waterloo Uncovered, a UK charity that combines archaeology with veteran care.
The epic battle was fought near Waterloo village, south of Brussels, on June 18, 1815. Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by the Duke of Wellington’s combined allied army of 68,000, aided by about 45,000 Prussians under Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher.
While thousands were killed during the battle, only two complete skeletons have ever been discovered at the site.
Two years ago, the organization unearthed a complete human skeleton at Mont-Saint-Jean farm in Belgium. The site is believed to have served as Wellington’s field hospital.
A team of archaeologists, veterans and serving personnel has returned this month to the same site to continue the work. Led by Tony Pollard, a professor of conflict history and archaeology at the University of Glasgow and the charity’s archaeological director, they unearthed a “unique battle clearance trench” at the hospital site.
Veteran support charity Waterloo Uncovered is carrying out a targeted excavation at Mont-Saint-Jean farm in Belgium, which served as the Duke of Wellington’s field hospital during the battle in 1815. Chris van Houts/PA
The trench is thought to have been designed to clear the hospital of gore after the battle. It contained “deposits of human and animal remains separated by a barrier of ammunition boxes stripped from soldier’s leather satchels,” according to a press release published by the [University of Glasgow](https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_1109324_en.html) this week.