Were the Waterloo dead plundered and used to refine sugar?
Using dozens of contemporary written accounts in Belgian, German and French archives, three researchers including our Archaeological Director Professor Tony Pollard have come to the conclusion that bones of the Waterloo dead were plundered from 1834 onwards, and used in the process of refining sugar in Belgian sugar mills.
Their work, which has been covered in the press internationally and has been the subject of a History Hit podcast, sheds new light on the aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo, which would have left thousands of bodies strewn across the Belgian landscape. Professor Pollard has previously published an academic paper outlining the role that the bones of the dead likely played in the European fertiliser trade, which can be read here.
