Unusual 17th-century Dutch horse burial site found

[ex1cdo]

Archaelogist have found a horse burial ground near the Maas River in Borgharen, around 3 km north of the Dutch border city of Maastricht. This may contain the remains of cavalry mounts from 1632 during the Eighty Years' War, when Dutch rebels quartered in Borgharen repelled a surprise charge by the Spanish cavalry. Another possibility is the 1673 siege of Maastricht by soldiers of French "Sun King" Louis XIV.

Source (http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100630/world/eu_netherlands_horse_skeletons).

[big_les]

Very interesting, thanks for posting.

[Basillicus]

Interesting. What I've read is that horses were respected a lot during that era. There are examples where armies were starving - and I guess they were quite often in the 17th and 18th century since starving the other army if possible was safer than trying to annihilate it in a battle that might have very unpredictable result - but still eating even the dead horses was considered nearly unthinkable.

[RSone]

If the horses belonged to the Dutch side, another explanation is that many cavalry riders were Frisians, iirc, and the horse was a important part of their culture.

[Mu-Meson]

Interesting. What I've read is that horses were respected a lot during that era. There are examples where armies were starving - and I guess they were quite often in the 17th and 18th century since starving the other army if possible was safer than trying to annihilate it in a battle that might have very unpredictable result - but still eating even the dead horses was considered nearly unthinkable.

I'm not sure if they were more 'respected' or just simply incredibly valuable. There's no comparison in cost of breeding, training, feeding, and equipping a war horse, and the cost of some cannon fodder foot soldiers. Also, the horses would belong to nobles and knights and such, and they'd likely rather have some peasants starve then have their beloved Mr Buttercups get served up for dinner.