New research shows soldiers’ bones from the Battle of Waterloo could have been used as fertilizer

(CN) — A new study in the Journal of Conflict Archaeology analyzing written accounts, articles and art from the days and years following the Battle of Waterloo leads researchers to believe that human remains were sold as fertilizer. 

The Battle of Waterloo took place in 1815 in present-day Belgium and ended the political and military career of Napoleon Bonaparte. In its aftermath, the total casualties are estimated at over 20,000. 

In the days following, some bodies were cremated in burn piles, but the written accounts and art depict most soldiers in shallow graves — some with limbs still protruding from the earth. The bloody battlefield immediately attracted visitors, being cited in works exploring the evolution of the trend of Thantatourism, or Dark Tourism. 

"Many came to steal the belongings of the dead, some even stole teeth to make into dentures, while others came to simply observe what had happened," said study author Tony Pollard, a professor at the University of Glasgow Centre for War Studies and Conflict Archaeology in Scotland.

Looting battlefields became common practice. Removing teeth from the dead at Waterloo was popular enough to create dentures known as "Waterloo teeth." Many artifacts were collected to be sold back to the tourists. The visitor accounts point researchers in the direction of three mass graves that could contain up to 13,000 bodies — despite few remains being recovered in modern archeological surveys and excavations. 

The wars across Europe also gave a green light to a new business venture — bone-meal fertilizer. Newspapers report importing human and nonhuman bones from battle sites and sending them to agricultural markets in the early 1820s. First published in 1822, one report details the collection and distribution of Waterloo soldiers' remains along with other war sites. The article states that the bones of the soldiers and their horses were collected and milled to powder every quarter, then sent off to markets for farmers. Working better than manure, bone-meal fertilizer became popular before superphosphates were discovered.

"Local people would have been able to point these agents to the locations of the mass graves, as many of them would have vivid memories of the burials taking place, or may even have helped with the digging. It's also possible that the various guidebooks and travelogues that described the nature and location of the graves could have served essentially as treasure maps complete with an X to mark the spot," Pollard said. 

This practice also led to an editorial observation in The London Observer in 1822, which claimed that the farmers were indebted to their children's bones. The article also stated that Great Britain should have sent out more troops to Europe so they could, in turn, "fatten" their soil. 

With only a handful of bone discoveries at Waterloo, any bone findings during upcoming excavations would be rare. However, the fieldwork will help researchers better understand the final resting place of thousands of fallen soldiers.

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