The excavators found the bronze and tin can almost completely intact, with wood debris and the imprint of ropes, according to an announcement Saturday from Pompeii Archaeological Park.
“It’s an extraordinary discovery for advancing our knowledge of the ancient world,” said the park’s outgoing director, Massimo Osanna. “In Pompeii, vehicles used for transport have been found in the past, such as those of the House of Menander, or the two chariots discovered at Villa Arianna, but nothing like the Civita Giuliana wagon.”
The villa, north of Pompeii in Civita Giuliana, had a stable in which the remains of three horses were found in 2018, including one that was harnessed. The chariot was found in a double veranda that probably overlooks a courtyard, not far from the stable.
The Pompeii Archaeological Park describes the find as ‘extraordinary’ and that it adds an extra element to the history of the house. ‘
The wagon is decorated with sheets of bronze and red and black wood panels. At the back, various stories are engraved on bronze and tin medals. The ceiling of the villa is deciduous English oak, a material commonly used in Roman times, and it has been carefully removed for further investigation.
Excavators first discovered part of the artefact emerging from the volcanic material on January 7th. Weeks later, the entire chariot was brought to light, miraculously intact despite the collapse of parts of the room in which it was housed.
The wagon’s engraved bronze and tin medals, still covered with volcanic material
Luigi Spina / Pompeii Archaeological Park
“Pompeii remains amazed with all its discoveries, and will continue to do so for many years to come, with another twenty hectares to be excavated,” Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said in a press video in Pompeii on Friday. “But above all, it shows that valorisation can take place, and tourists can be attracted from all over the world, while at the same time doing research, education and studies …”
The park believes the chariot had a ceremonial use, such as accompanying festivities, processions and processions. Park officials said this type of chariot had never been found in Italy, but rather on the finds of Thrace in northern Greece.
The ancient city of Pompeii is one of the most important tourist attractions in Italy, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Much of the Greco-Roman city has been covered with rubble since Mount Vesuvius erupted and covered the city in ash and pumice almost 2,000 years ago. And experts are still discovering delicacies that give clues as to what life was like when the city was functioning.
Looters have stolen from the villa several times over the past few years. The public prosecutor of Torre Annunziata, officers of the Naples Carabinieri headquarters for the protection of cultural heritage, and investigators of the Carabinieri group order of Torre Annunziata have been helping to protect the wagon since January.
The current excavation is aimed at protecting one of the most important villas in the region from looters who have developed a complex system of more than 80 tunnels at a depth of more than 5 meters, plundering some parts of the site and partially destroyed.
“The fight against the looting of archeological sites, inside and outside the urban area of ancient Pompeii, is definitely one of the main objectives of the office,” Torre Annunziata chief prosecutor Nunzio Fragliasso said in a press video on Friday in Pompeii.