October 19, 2012 12:24 pm
Men Chasing Cat Stumble Upon 2,000-Year-Old Roman Treasures
Indiana Jones Cat doesn’t mind snakes so much. Photo: FatCatCrafts
Earlier this week, in a residential area of Rome, two men decided to chase a cat through the city streets, a late-night escapade that ended with the discovery of a 2,000-year-old burial chamber. We won’t prejudge what drove the men to chase the furry feline, but as The Guardian has it:
“The cat managed to get into a grotto and we followed the sound of its miaowing,” [Mirko Curti] said.
Inside the small opening in the cliff the two men found themselves surrounded by niches dug into the rock similar to those used by the Romans to hold funeral urns, while what appeared to be human bones littered the floor.
Archaeologists pulled in to look at the find dated it to the dawn of the common era, a time at the height of the Roman Empire.
More from Smithsonian.com:
Greek Subway Dig Uncovers Marble Road from Roman Empire
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Hooray for cats I say. My latest blogpost is about cats in the Colosseum and how Woody Allen would cope. http://ambradambra.wordpress.com/2012/10/15/a-funny-thing-happened-on-the-way-to-the-colosseum/
Comment by ambradambra — October 22, 2012 @ 2:59 am
Great story, very cool discovery! Yes, I too won’t question why the men were chasing the cat. I’ll just continue thinking that they wanted to give him some food. Or that they wanted to adopt him.
And thanks so much for including a picture of my Indiana Jones Cat Pincushion!
-Kathleen
Comment by Kathleen — October 22, 2012 @ 12:39 pm