A section of the ossuary at Douaumont, France, containing the unidentified remains of over 130,000 soldiers killed at the battle of Verdun, photographed in 1964. The remains include soldiers from both sides of the conflict (1920×1240)

My professor in college walked the trails of the Verdun battlefield after a prolonged rain storm. He found some bone and returned to the staff to get a ranger. The ranger wore white gloves and had a silver whisk broom to remove the remains. The bones were respectfully whisked up and added to this building. The event took place in the mid-1970s and the professor was telling us the story to emphasize the horror of Verdun in the 1980s.