By Tom Metcalfe - Live Science Contributor an hour ago
The wooden platform and shaft of the chariot have now rotted away; to preserve the artifacts' shapes, archaeologists injected plaster into the voids they left in the hardened ash. (Image credit: Archaeological Park of Pompeii)
An ornate four-wheeled chariot of iron, bronze and wood that archaeologists think was drawn by a team of horses in processions through Pompeii almost 2,000 years ago has been unearthed during excavations of a wealthy Roman villa just north of the ancient city’s walls.
Archaeologists discovered the elaborate chariot, which still has imprints of organic materials such as its ropes and floral decorations, almost intact in a portico of the villa in the suburb of Civita Giuliana, facing the stables where the remains of three horses were found in 2018.
The collapsing walls and roof of the villa helped preserve the chariot from 21st-century antiquities thieves, who had dug tunnels at the site that nearly reached the chariot, according to officials at the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, which is managed by Italy's cultural heritage ministry.
It's thought the richly-adorned chariot may have been a pilentum referred to by some sources, which was not for everyday use or for agricultural transport, but featured in community festivities, parades, and processions. It's the first time that this type of ceremonial chariot has been found in Italy, the statement said.
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