Archaeologists recently unearthed the remains of three horses from beneath layers of volcanic ash and debris at the site of the ancient city of Pompeii. The animals were buried alongside thousands of people trying to escape the violent eruption of Italy’s Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago.
The horses’ skeletons were discovered inside a stable. The animals were likely suffocated by hot, poisonous gases released during the eruption. Two of the horses wore harnesses, suggesting people were readying them to flee the disaster. After the horses were buried, their bodies decomposed and left hollow impressions in the hardened ash. Archaeologists made lifelike casts of some of the animals by filling in those empty spaces with plaster.
By studying Pompeii’s history, scientists hope to better understand how and when Vesuvius might blow its top again. “The past is a guide for what to expect in the future,” says Michael Manga, a geologist who studies volcanoes at the University of California, Berkeley.