14 DAY TRIAL // Not long ago, construction crews working on a project in the city of Frankfurt in Germany chanced to uncover around 200 skeletons.
The human remains, which appear to date back to the 18th century, were discovered in Frankfurt's western Roedelheim district.
Researchers say the skeletons belong to soldiers
Having examined these human bones found by construction workers in the district of Roedelheim in Frankfurt, experts concluded that they most likely belong to soldiers.
More precisely, they say that they are the remains of soldiers in Napoleon Bonaparte's army, who probably died while retreating from Russia in the early 1813.
Historical records show that, in that year, many battles were fought close to Frankfurt. During these battles, around 15,000 people died, many from horrific injuries.
Then, there were also those who were killed by typhus, a disease that is caused by the Rickettsia bacteria, in turn transmitted by parasites such as fleas and ticks.
Of the roughly 200 skeletons, merely 30 or so have been pulled out of the ground so far, DM informs. It is expected it will take a couple of months to excavate all of them.
The soldiers were buried in a haste, evidence shows
Archaeologists entrusted with recovering these skeletons buried centuries ago in west Frankfurt say that, as far as they can tell, the soldiers were laid to rest in quite a haste.
For starters, their coffins were discovered aligned in a north-south axis. Usually, caskets are positioned along an east-west axis. Hence, it's safe to assume whoever buried these people was in quite a hurry to get rid of their bodies.
What's more, the bodies didn't each get a tomb of their own. Rather, they were put together in mass graves, which suggests there was no time for a proper burial.
For now, it is unclear what will happen with the bones once researchers are done examining them. All things considered, some might go on display at a local museum.
