Latest Surprising Find
Various news articles announced the find of a ceremonial chariot in Pompeii. Recently, archaeologists renewed excavations in and around Pompeii in a couple locations. One of them, located outside the ancient city walls, is an area of grand villas buried under ash. The owners of a modern house built above one of the villas realized what lay below. In order to loot the site, they cut illegal tunnels. Fortunately, the Italian authorities caught and charged them.
Previously, I’ve written about the discovery of the bodies of a possible villa owner and his male slave. Now it’s great fun to tell you about an unusual chariot that has been remarkably preserved.
The excavators uncovered the ceremonial chariot in Pompeii in the portico of a stable. Unlike the workaday carts and wagons found in the past, a craftsman adorned this one with iron and bronze decorations. Even the wooden remains mineralized and thus stay visible. The Romans would have used this kind of highly decorated, four-wheeled cart in festivities and parades. It might have carried brides to their new homes. Remarkably, it’s the first of its archaeological kind in Italy, although we know of their existence from written accounts.
Click here for the Pompeii website with detailed information and photos.