Cat discovers 2,000-year-old Roman catacomb

[boston bean]

Rome may not exactly be short of catacombs, but one discovered this week is more deserving of the name than the city's countless other subterranean burial chambers. For Mirko Curti stumbled into a 2,000-year-old tomb piled with bones while chasing a wayward moggy yards from his apartment building.

Curti and a friend were following the cat at 10pm on Tuesday when it scampered towards a low tufa rock cliff close to his home near Via di Pietralata in a residential area of the city. "The cat managed to get into a grotto and we followed the sound of its miaowing," he 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 called to the scene said the tomb probably dated from between the 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD. Given that niches were used to store ashes in urns, the bones had probably tumbled into the tomb from a separate burial space higher up inside the cliff.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/18/cat-2000-year-old-roman-catacomb?INTCMP=SRCH

[geckosfeet]

1. In the middle of the fricking city....

[darkangel218]

2. ...... n/t

[geckosfeet]

7. Ya. Pretty cool. I am amazed that it went undiscovered for so long.

[darkangel218]

8. Perheps because the Italian towns are so freaking old

Everything looks old and overcrowded. But yah, still weird.

[2pooped2pop]

3. "It's just meow litter box"

yes, it is a direct quote from the cat.

[boston bean]

4. wonder if that is why this is they call it a "cat"acomb. nt

[2pooped2pop]

5. lol, yes.

and perhaps originally referred to as a kitacomb.

[Quantess]

6. Cool!