Roman horse skeletons, chariot dug up

Herald Sun (Australia) ^ | June 12, 2008 | AFP correspondents in Athens

[SunkenCiv]

Archaeologists have dug up the skeletons of 16 horses and a two-wheeled chariot in a grave dating back to the Roman Empire in north-east Greece, the culture ministry announced today. Half of the horses were buried in pairs, whilst two human skeletons were also discovered in a dig near Lithohori, in the Kavala region. Near to the remains of six of the horses archaeologists found a shield, weapons and various other accessories... diggers found a grave and four tombs covered with a ceramic lid, which contained four bronze coins dating back to the fourth century AD. The chariot, dating from the first or second century AD... was decorated with a frieze relief in bronze, depicting three of Hercules' labours: namely, the Cerberus dog, the wild boar of Erymanthian, and the Stymphalian birds. The ministry said that in 2007 archaeologists discovered a chariot wheel placed underneath two horse skeletons in the same area.

[Redcitizen]

How can they be Roman? These horses are dead.

[SunkenCiv]

Hoof never laughed so hard while online.

[SunkenCiv]

I would concoct a joke about that, but my cornea sense of humor would be hard to take in this context.

[wildbill]

Me too. Why does that happen sometimes on pictures?

[Professional Engineer]

The big question:

Is the wheel track really 4’-8 1/2”?

[SunkenCiv]

I’ve heard that is a myth. It is factual that a single gauge was hammered out by the various companies, because after a while they realized they were in the transportation business, and having different equipment just increased labor costs. But there wasn’t a big yardstick laying around from the Roman era. The closest thing to that would probably be the stepping stones on some of the “crosswalks” in Pompeii, which were laid down so pedestrians wouldn’t have to wade through a river of kaka; obviously there was a Roman standard for chariot gauge, or at least a min-max standard of some sort.