「ワーテルローの戦い」古戦場で人骨出土　ベルギー

【ワーテルローＡＦＰ＝時事】ベルギーにある「ワーテルローの戦い」の古戦場で新たな人骨が出土した。（写真は再現された「ワーテルローの戦い」の参加者ら。資料写真）
　１８１５年、皇帝ナポレオン・ボナパルト率いるフランス軍はワーテルローの戦いでウェリントン公率いる英・オランダ連合軍などに敗れ、２万人以上の戦死者が出たとされる。
　先週、人骨が出土したのは、連合軍の野戦病院があったモンサンジャンの農場付近。
　発掘プロジェクトを主導している一人で、英グラスゴー大学のトニー・ポラード教授は「人の全身の骨格と、その隣で、切断された脚の骨」とみられるものが見つかったとし、「ここに運ばれてきた戦死者の骨か、病院で亡くなった患者のものかは分からない」と説明。
　「ナポレオン戦争の古戦場で、こうした遺物が見つかるのは極めて珍しい」とし、「ここでは博物館の建設中に一度だけ、全身の骨が揃った状態で見つかっている」と続けた。
　発掘プロジェクトは、ワーテルローの戦いから２００年となる２０１５年に開始され、２０１９年には切断された脚の骨３本が見つかっていたが、新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大を受け、発掘は中断していた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/07/19-19:43）

A British-led archaeological dig has uncovered new human bones at the site of the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium.
Historians estimate that more than 20,000 soldiers were killed at Waterloo, 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Brussels, on June 18, 1815 when mainly Anglo-Dutch allied troops commanded by the Duke of Wellington defeated French battalions led by Napoleon Bonaparte.
It was one of the worst armed confrontations in history and crushed Napoleon's dreams of a great empire. Tens of thousands of soldiers were also wounded.
The discovery of new bones was made last week around the Mont St Jean farm, where Wellington set up the main allied field hospital at the time.
We have what looks like a complete human skeleton and, next to that, it's another amputated leg, said Tony Pollard, a professor at Glasgow University and one of the mission's directors.
We don't know whether that person was killed in a battle and the body brought here... or whether it was a patient who died in the hospital, he said.
On Napoleonic battlefields, this sort of very old deposit is incredibly rare. We have been working here since 2015 and this is the first time we've encountered a great pit.
Only one complete skeleton has been excavated from the battlefield, and it was when they were building the museum, the British archaeologist added.
The excavation project, which includes archaeologists, students, military personnel and veterans, was launched in 2015 to mark the bicentenary of the battle.
In 2019, they discovered remains of three amputated legs at the site. The dig was then interrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Eva Collignon, a Belgian archaeologist, said the latest bones discovered were probably gathered in a hurry in a ditch near the field hospital because the number of victims was so high.