Perfectly preserved: The 51 horse skeletons buried side-by-side in mass grave

By Mail Foreign Service
Updated: 06:35 EST, 1 July 2010

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Archaeologists have uncovered a mass grave containing the complete skeletons of 51 horses buried side-by-side.

The remains, discovered in the Netherlands, probably belong to the long-forgotten equine victims of a 17th-century battle over a strategic Dutch river.

It was the largest known equine burial ground in Europe, although chief archaeologist Angela Simons said today that many such sites have probably existed but have been ploughed up over the centuries by unwitting farmers.

Dig: Archaeologists have uncovered a mass grave containing the complete skeletons of 51 horses buried side-by-side, possibly belonging to the equine victims of a 17th-century Dutch battle

The archaeological team had been looking for evidence of prehistoric human settlements in the area when they made the find.

'From the first shovel, it was horses, horses and more horses,' said Miss Simons, of the Hazenberg company, who the Dutch government had hired to survey the ground ahead of a construction project.

The horses showed signs of being buried quickly - their bodies were not carefully arranged, and the skeletons occasionally overlap.

'It's easy to imagine this is how cavalry men might dispose of dead mounts in war time,' Miss Simons said.

The horses may have been killed in battle, although disease or a plague could not be ruled out.

It also was unclear whether the horses were buried out of respect, or because of the fear of contamination from so many decomposing corpses.

Skeletons: The remains, discovered in the Netherlands, probably belong to the long-forgotten equine victims of a 17th-century battle over a strategic Dutch river

The skeletons were found in a ditch in a field near the Maas River in Borgharen, around two miles north of the Dutch border city of Maastricht.

Initial carbon testing dated the bones to the 17th century, when the Netherlands was still struggling to emerge as a nation.

If the horses were killed in a battle, likely candidates include a fight in 1632 during the Eighty Years' War, when Dutch rebels quartered in Borgharen resisted a surprise charge by the Spanish cavalry.

Another possibility is the 1673 siege of Maastricht by soldiers of French 'Sun King' Louis XIV.

That battle is considered a milestone in siege warfare, because of how the attacking French used zigzagging ditches to give their soldiers cover from the city's battlements.

Both engagements were fought during the summer.

Burial: The horses may have been killed in battle, although disease or a plague could not be ruled out

No traces of bridles or saddles were found in the shallow 130 foot-long grave, suggesting they were removed. The researchers discovered just one stirrup and several horseshoes.

One horse had a bullet in its skull just behind the eye-socket, probably an injured horse shot to prevent further suffering, Miss Simons said.

Evidence suggests they were cavalry horses. Most appeared to be around four years old, and their size and bone structure suggests they were for riding, not draft horses.

Miss Simons said it was possible the animals had some connection with several French soldiers whose skeletons were uncovered on a riverbank in Borgharen in 2004.

The human skeletons were identified as French from their coat buttons.