Specialist research should later reveal how they died, for example in a battle or an epidemic. The excavation will last at least until the end of this year. In the course of 2021, the municipality of Vijfheerenlanden hopes to have more clarity about the origin of the mass grave.
Specialist research
The skeletons now first go to a depot. “There, a random sample will be used to determine which skeletons are eligible for specialist research,” says alderman Christa Hendriksen.
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Because all skeletons have to be excavated first, research on the remains cannot be carried out until 2021.
Dozens of skeletons
The municipality expects that there are still dozens of skeletons in the grave of perhaps about a hundred individuals. On Tuesday, all skeletons had been uncovered in about a quarter of the entire mass grave.
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Last week it was announced that skeletons had been found during work on a new part of the city canal in Vianen. The site is near the former Batestein castle grounds. This castle was built around 1370 and was the residence of important noble families for 300 years. After a fire in 1696, the castle fell into disrepair.
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