Overview
- Investigators sampled DNA from the jaw and teeth on March 13 and sent it to a Munich lab for comparison with living relatives from the De Batz line in Avignon.
- Archaeologists found a 17th‑century French coin and a musket‑ball fragment near the ribs in the grave, which fits accounts that d’Artagnan died by musket fire during the 1673 siege of Maastricht.
- The body lay beneath the site of a former altar at St Peter and Paul Church in Maastricht, a location church officials say was reserved for high‑status burials and consistent with a contemporary note about burial on consecrated ground.
- The skeleton and grave goods were removed to an archaeological institute in Deventer, and lead researcher Wim Dijkman says he is hopeful but will wait for DNA and isotope results before any identification.
- Confirmation could settle a long‑running historical mystery and shape decisions on conservation, public display, and possible French commemorations, even as some local voices sound confident and officials urge caution.