This 2,000-year-old wooden chariot was buried with the remains of two horses and a dog, as well as the remains of a Thracian leader in modern-day Bulgaria. (Image credit: UBB/Veseliп Igpatov)

A photo of a Thracian chariot with two horses and a dog quickly shot to the top of Reddit today (October 13) with more than 65,000 likes. But what’s so exciting about this discovery and who was buried next to the chariot?

A team of archaeologists led by Vasiliy Igbatov from Istoricheski Nova Zagora, a museum in Bulgaria, discovered the 2,000-year-old wooden chariot in 2008. It was covered in bronze and likely decorated with scenes from Thracian mythology that were barely visible. Its exact age is uncertain and may be closer to 1,800 years old.

In 2009, in addition to the chariot, Igbatov and his team also found a brick grave containing the rema ins of a map that appeared to be covered in armor. The map was buried with several items, including gold coins, gold rings and a silver cup with the image of the Greek god Eros (the Roman equivalent of Cupid). He may have been a high ruler or even a ruler who lived in the Thracian community in modern-day Bulgaria. [Images: Bronze Age Chariot Cemetery]

Wagon burials like this are common in Bulgaria. The practice of burying people in carriages appears to have begun in Bulgaria about 2,500 years ago, Igbatov wrote in a 2007 article in the journal Archaeologia Bulgarica. He noted that the practice was particularly common during the Roman Empire, which lasted about 2,100 to 1,500 years.

Although people in other areas of the Roman Empire sometimes buried their subjects in carts, the custom was “by far the most popular and widespread custom in Thrace,” Igbatov wrote in the journal article. “In all cases, the chariots symbolized prestige, power and authority,” Igbatov wrote, noting that the chariots were likely intended for the deceased to use in the afterlife.

At the time of burial, the horses pulling the chariot were likely killed. Igbatov wrote that sacrifices were made to animal gods, such as pigs, dogs, sheep and deer, along with libations of wine (as were clothes). Sometimes the vehicles themselves were dismantled or destroyed before being buried, Igbatov wrote.

Igbatov noted that cart graves are common in Bulgaria and sometimes contain valuable goods, and thieves try to find them and sell the artifacts on the black market. This means that archaeologists in Bulgaria often discover and excavate cart graves quickly before looters find and plunder them.

Because archaeologists excavated this chariot tomb before it fell into the hands of looters, the artifacts can now be displayed to the public at the museum. Photos showing Bowser’s tomb are also being shared publicly on Reddit and other social media platforms.