Archaeologists have found the skeleton of the famous musketeer d'Artagnan.
In a Dutch church, archaeologist Wim Dijkman discovered remains he believes belong to the famous French musketeer d'Artagnan. This could shed light on the hero's burial site more than three centuries after his death, reports CNN.
The skeleton was found in a tomb in front of the altar of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in the Dutch city of Maastricht. A musket ball and a small bronze coin minted in 1660 were found nearby, according to independent archaeologist Wim Dijkman.
These findings are consistent with historical accounts that d'Artagnan, whose full name was Charles de Batz de Castelmore, died in 1673 during the French siege of Maastricht from a fatal musket ball wound to the throat.
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The siege was part of the Franco-Dutch War of 1672–1678, during which France sought to establish control over the Spanish Netherlands. D'Artagnan was later immortalized in the novel The Three Musketeers, published in 1844 by French writer Alexandre Dumas, and more recently in films and television series.
Dijkman, a former city archaeologist in Maastricht, said he had been seeking permission to excavate the church site for about 25 years after meeting French historian Odile Bordaz, an expert on d'Artagnan.
Bordaz has long put forward the theory that the musketeer was most likely buried near the French camp, and not transported to France so that King Louis XIV could personally attend the funeral of his faithful servant.
Dijkman said that when he told Bordaz that he lived in Maastricht, she asked him to look for the musketeer's remains - and now he believes he has found them.
"I'm almost certain," Deikman said, adding that he was awaiting test results. This involves comparing the DNA from the skeleton with samples from two individuals who claim kinship with d'Artagnan, as well as strontium isotope analysis, which will determine the region of birth of the individual whose remains were found.
"I'm a scientist, an archaeologist. It's important to me to achieve maximum accuracy," he emphasized.
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In turn, the church deacon, Jos Valcke, reported that the letter about d'Artagnan's death stated that he was buried on consecrated ground.
"Under the altar. It's hard to imagine a more sacred place," Valke clarified.
"If we take all the facts together, the theory seems plausible. But no definitive conclusions can be drawn yet," the archaeologist concluded.
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