Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

Did you see this in the news today? I thought it

was absolutely fascinating!

.....

Archaeologists have unearthed a 1,900-year-old well-preserved
chariot at an ancient Thracian tomb in southeastern Bulgaria, the
head of the excavation said Thursday. Daniela Agre said her team
found the four-wheel chariot during excavations near the village of
Borisovo, around 180 miles east of the capital, Sofia. "This is the first
time that we have found a completely preserved chariot in Bulgaria",
said Agre, a senior archaeologist at the Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences. She said previous excavations had only unearthed single
parts of chariots — often because ancients sites had been looted. At
the funerary mound, the team also discovered table pottery, glass
vessels and other gifts for the funeral of a wealthy Thracian aristocrat.
In a separate pit, they unearthed skeletons of two riding horses
apparently sacrificed during the funeral of the nobleman, along with
well preserved bronze and leather objects, some believed to horse
harnesses. The Thracians were an ancient people that inhabited the
lands of present day Bulgaria and parts of modern Greece, Turkey,
Macedonia and Romania between 4,000 B.C. and the 6th century,
when they were assimilated by the invading Slavs. Some 10,000
Thracian mounds — some of them covering monumental stone
tombs — are scattered across Bulgaria.
By VESELIN TOSHKOV, APS, Reuters Photos