The skeleton of famed French musketeer Charles de Batz de Castelmore d'Artagnan may have been found in front of a church altar in the Dutch city of Maastricht, church officials and an archaeologist said on Wednesday.

Workers discovered a grave containing human remains beneath tiles after part of the floor of St. Peter and Paul Church subsided in February, triggering a race to identify the skeleton through DNA testing.

The church had previously been identified as a possible resting place of the 17th-century soldier.

A DNA sample retrieved from a jawbone found in the church has been taken to Germany to be tested against that of the musketeer's descendants.

Additionally, the BBC noted that some of the bones have been taken to the city of Deventer in attempt to determine the skeleton's age and the gender of the individual it belonged to.

"This has truly become a top-level investigation, in which we want to be absolutely certain, or as certain as possible, whether it is the famous musketeer, who was killed here near Maastricht," archaeologist Wim Dijkman told Reuters.

Despite this, Dijkman explained to Limburg public broadcaster L1 that he is a scientist, and "will only say it is d'Artagnan when I know for certain."

"A section of the floor in the church had subsided, and during the restoration work, we discovered a skeleton," Deacon Jos Valke shared with L1. "I immediately called Wim because he has been working on d'Artagnan for more than twenty years."

"We became quite silent when we found the first bone," the deacon told the BBC, adding that there were additional clues, including a coin that has been dated to 1660 and part of a lead bullet found at the burial spot.

A contemporary letter said d'Artagnan had been buried in consecrated ground.

"Well, under an altar - it couldn't be much holier than that," Valke said. "When you add it all up, then, it seems plausible to us. But of course nothing is certain yet."

A fictionalized version of d'Artagnan was the hero of Alexandre Dumas' 1844 novel "The Three Musketeers," a hot-headed teenager who becomes the fourth musketeer. But d'Artagnan was a real historical figure.

Like his fictional counterpart, d'Artagnan served French "Sun King" Louis XIV and eventually became captain-lieutenant of the musketeers. He was killed during the French siege of Maastricht in the Franco-Dutch War on June 25, 1673, after being struck in the throat by a musket ball.

The church stands near the site where the French army camped. Although d'Artagnan was celebrated as a hero, transporting his body back to Paris in the summer heat would have been difficult.