Archaeologists from the VU University Amsterdam claim they have found evidence that an ancient Roman battlefield in Kessel—a village in the southern Netherlands—coincides with Julius Caesar's conquest of the Germanic tribes in northern Europe. Weapons and remains extracted in the area are the first hard evidence that Julius Caesar and his legions of troops crossed into what is now Dutch territory.

In addition to traditional archeological methods, researchers used carbon dating techniques to discover the age of multiple spearheads and swords, a helmet, belt hooks, and even skeletal remains. The analysis suggests that the items are from the 1st century BC, the time of the battle.

Caesar recounts the battle in his own Commentarii de Bello Gallico, an account of the Gallic Warsbetween 58BC to 50BC, and claims to have completely massacred two Germanic tribes. If true, casualties from the battle would have exceeded 400,000 people, but researchers from VU Amsterdam say that 150,000 to 200,000 is a more likely estimate. Though Caesar wrote about the conquest, the exact site of the battlefield was unknown until now. That, and the extent to which he was keen to exaggerate his victories.

Source: The Guardian

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