Dead Men Do Tell Tales

This is the skeleton of a victim of the Batavia's mutiny. When the remains were examined a number of points were noted. Firstly, given the structure of the pelvis, the skeleton was identified as male. He is over six feet tall. Surviving VOC records showed that only three people on the Batavia were over six feet tall. This information narrowed down the possible identity of the person. The skeleton is also lacking the small bones of the hands and feet. The loss of these bones may be due to burrowing birds having dug them out. There is no decay in the teeth, but the splitting of some of them indicates that the victim may have chewed the bones from the meat that he ate. Finally, on the top of the skull you can see a chip in the bone where the victim was struck, possibly with a sword. In an archaeological dig in 2016 the missing chip was found in the victim’s re-opened grave. These clues indicated that the skeleton may be that of Andre DeVries. However, subsequent research, including DNA analysis, proved this theory incorrect. Actual relatives of this person have been identified in the Netherlands and the skeleton remains on display with their permission.