At Napoleon Bonaparte's last battle, the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, more than 10,000 men and an equal number of horses were killed in one day. But today, archaeologists often struggle to find physical evidence of the dead from that bloody era. Cultivation and construction are usually responsible for the disappearance of historical sites, but this cannot explain the disappearance here. Why did so many bones emerge and disappear?
in new bookAn international team of historians and archaeologists claim the bones were depleted by industrial-scale grave raiding. The introduction of phosphate as a fertilizer and bone char as a raw material for beet sugar processing in the early 19th century turned bones into a hot commodity. Rising prices have led to mass grave raids across Europe and beyond.
here Full article, via William Mellor. And, as Alex has emphasized in the past, Never underestimate the elasticity of supply!
post Twenty dollar bills are picked up and body parts are put on the market for everything. It first appeared marginal revolution.