Liberal Forum

Only very seldom do archaeologists discover a skeleton from the time of the Battle of Waterloo, let alone a complete skeleton.[6] This is due to a habit that was widespread in the 1830s and 1840s: human bones were considered as a great fertilizer for the soil to grow crops, with the consequence that the area around Waterloo was intensively searched for skeletons of soldiers.[6] Mass graves were plundered, the bones were ground and the powder was sold to farmers.[6][7][8][9] Historian John Sadler states that "Many who died that day in Waterloo were buried in shallow graves but their bodies were later disinterred and their skeletons taken. They were ground down and used as fertiliser and taken back home to be used on English crops.[10
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterloo_ ... sh%20crops.