Two skulls, three femurs, coxal bones -- from the hip/pelvis area -- that probably belonged to four combatants;

“Such a quantity of bones is really unique!” exclaims historian Bernard Wilkin, in front of an autopsy table at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Liège (east).

They are there to undergo a series of analyzes supposed to determine in particular the region of origin of the soldiers.

The challenge is daunting: half a dozen European nationalities took part in this battle which killed some 20,000 people on June 18, 1815, 20 km south of Brussels.

This is one of the worst armed confrontations in history, which put an end to Napoleon Bonaparte's dreams of a great empire.

The conditions in which these bones were discovered are quite comical.

It was during a conference on Waterloo given at the end of 2022 by Mr. Wilkin that a man confided his secret to this historian working for the Belgian State Archives.

"I have Prussians in my attic"

"This gentleman of a certain age came to find me at the end and said to me + Mr Wilkin, I have Prussians in my attic +", relates the latter with a smile.

"He showed me photos on his smartphone, explained to me that he had been given these bones to exhibit them (...), which he had refused for ethical reasons".

The human remains therefore remained hidden.

The meeting with such an expert in the great battle would have served as a trigger.

"He said to himself that I was perhaps the right person to find them a decent burial, to analyze them, in any case to do something coherent", continues Mr. Wilkin.

Centerpiece of the collection: a right foot with almost all its phalanges, and attributed to "a Prussian soldier" by the donor.

Centerpiece of the collection: a right foot with almost all its phalanges © Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP/Archives

"Seeing such a well-preserved foot is relatively rare because generally the small bones of the extremities disappear into the ground", underlines Mathilde Daumas, anthropologist at the Free University of Brussels, who participates in the research work.

As for asserting that this foot is "Prussian" (an ancient region partly covering the north of present-day Germany), specialists urge caution.

The place of discovery, namely the village of Plancenoit where the Prussian and Napoleonic troops fought bitterly that day, made Bernard Wilkin say that these remains could just as well be French.

Certainly the pieces of boots and other uniform buckles present in this collection would rather come from the Germanic camp.

"A beautiful message"

But "we know that the soldiers stripped the dead to equip themselves", continues the Liège historian, according to whom clothes and accessories are not necessarily the right indicator to determine the nationality of a skeleton.

The enigma will perhaps be solved by the forensic doctor Philippe Boxho who gives himself two months to carry out analyzes.

He explains that the bones still contain exploitable traces of DNA.

"As long as the material is dry we can do something, our biggest enemy is the humidity which disintegrates everything", notes this Liégeois who has 30 years of forensic medicine behind him.

Historian Bernard Wilkin in front of an autopsy table at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Liège, Belgium, February 3, 2023 © Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP/Archives

"And with the teeth we can measure strontium, this atom which is the geological mark of the place where we lived", adds Dr Boxho.

In "an ideal scenario", Bernard Wilkin would like to include French and Germans among these "three to five" soldiers of whom there are remains.

The two countries, which were also enemies during the world wars of the 20th century, could thus be reunited one day around the graves in Lasne, the town on which Plancenoit depends.

"I hope it will succeed, it would be a nice message," says the historian.

© 2023 AFP