Alessandro Bianchi
Archaeologists have been able to cast a complete figure of a horse that died in the volcanic eruption at Pompeii in 79 A.D. Using the same technique that has allowed them to recreate the final poses of dozens of the eruption’s victims—which involves injecting liquid plaster into the cavities left behind when the bodies entombed in volcanic matter decomposed—they were able to cast the horse as it would have looked when it died 2,000 years ago. Archaeologists believe the area where the horse was found was, unsurprisingly, a stable—complete with the remains of a trough. Its size and traces of an iron and bronze harness suggest the animal was a specially bred horse of considerable value. This is the first time archaeologists have unearthed the complete outline of a horse.