In 2008 and 2009, Veselin Ignatov, an archaeologist from the Istoricheski Muzej Nova Zagora Museum in Bulgaria, led a team to dig out this 2,000-year-old chariot (via Live Science). During the excavations of the funerary mound, which was likely a Thracian tomb (via Boston.com), the team noticed the wooden chariot was decorated with muddied scenes from Thracian mythology. Near the chariot was a man dressed in armor, with gold coins, gold rings, a silver cup with a design of the Greek god Eros (like Rome's Cupid), as well as wooden and leather objects, which resembled horse harnesses and tools.
And of course, with the horseback riding-related tools, were two horses and a dog. Thracians were an Indo-European nomadic people who lived around 5,000 years ago, and were later taken over by the Romans before being assimilated with the Slavs. Before that, they had a rich history, and even richer burial traditions. Chariot burials were common in the region that is now known as Bulgaria, and they were usually reserved for nobility and royalty.
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