2000-year-old horse discovered in Pompeii’s volcanic rubble

An archaeological dig outside the city walls of ancient Pompeii in Italy revealed a horse that perished in the 79 C.E. eruption of Mount Vesuvius, The Local reports. Archaeologists discovered a cavity that was created when volcanic debris solidified around the horse’s body after it died, along with remains of the horse’s skeleton. Using the same technique researchers have used to visualize Pompeii’s human victims, the team created a plaster cast of the horse-shaped cavity. The diminutive horse measured 150 centimeters tall up to its withers, or the base of its neck, and it appears to have been kept in a stable. A few other domesticated animals—a dog and a pig—have been plaster cast at Pompeii, but this is the first time archaeologists have recreated the figure of a horse.