Skeleton discovered during repair of damaged floor in the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Maastricht is believed to be that of d'Artagnan, the real-life officer who inspired Dumas's hero

Beside the skeleton were found a French coin of the late seventeenth century and fragments of a musket ball. DNA has been extracted from the skeleton's teeth and sent for analysis to a laboratory in Munich; the results will be compared with the DNA of known descendants of the musketeer.

The Dutch archaeologist Wim Dijkman, who searched for d'Artagnan's grave for 28 years, calls the find a possible pinnacle of his career, but urges caution.

D'Artagnan's real name was Charles de Batz de Castelmore. He served Louis XIV, rose to captain of the Musketeers of the Guard, and was killed by a musket ball during the siege of Maastricht in 1673.

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