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ARCHAEOLOGY

Archaeologists just found a medieval horse’s head at the Colossseum

A horse's head isn't generally a good omen in Italy - or at least, not in Italy-based movie franchise The Godfather. But archaeologists at Rome's Colosseum were delighted to stumble across a medieval equine skull on Tuesday.

Published: 19 January 2017 08:44 CET
Archaeologists just found a medieval horse's head at the Colossseum
The Colosseum. Photo: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP

The find was made while cleaning the area around the steps to the monument's basement, Rome's Superintendent for Archaeology Francesco Prosperetti said.

The horse's skull dates back to between the 12th and 13th centuries, according to an initial analysis by an archaeozoologist.

However, further tests will have to be carried out to reveal crucial information about the horse's age, state of health, and to give clues as to what it was doing at the amphitheatre.

The skull and bones are shown towards the end of the video below.

Plenty of animal remains have been found in the area around the Rome monument, with many on display in its museum.

 

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ROME

Did you know: Rome wasn’t Italy’s first capital city?

With its prestigious history, famous landmarks and breathtaking art, Rome is known all over the world as Italy's capital. But was it always that way?

Published: 8 March 2024 15:55 CET
Did you know: Rome wasn't Italy's first capital city?

Rome is often one of the first cities to crop up when thinking of European capitals, and it’s easy to see why: its multiple treasures, including the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps and Piazza Navona, make it one of the most instantly recognisable cities in Europe, if not in the world.

But Rome hasn’t always been Italy’s capital.

In fact, there have been two Italian capitals other than the Eternal City since Italy’s Unification in 1861: Turin and Florence.

Currently the capital of Italy’s northwestern Piedmont region, Turin’s tenure as the country’s capital was fairly short-lived.

The northern city first became capital of the Kingdom of Savoy in 1559, it then became the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1713 and eventually it became capital of the Kingdom of Italy on March 17th 1861, the day that marked the country’s unification.

Turin, Italy

A view of the Mole Antonelliana, one of Turin’s most recognisable landmarks. Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP

By 1865 however, Turin had already lost its capital status to Florence. 

The transition wasn’t exactly smooth though as the local population took to the streets to rebel against the decision on September 21st 1864. What followed is now known as the Turin massacre, in which around 60 civilians were killed.

Florence’s capital status was not long-lived either as in February 1871 – just six years after the transfer to the Tuscan city – Rome formally became the new capital of the Kingdom of Italy.

That’s not all however: a small town in southwestern Sicily claims to have been the first Italian capital as it was supposedly proclaimed so by Giuseppe Garibaldi – an Italian general that was among the leading contributors to Italy’s unification and the creation of the Kingdom of Italy – on May 14th 1860. The Sicilian town claims to have held the title for a day.

That said, according to history books, there have only been three capital cities in Italy: Turin, Florence and Rome.

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