Professor Eric Poehler is an expert at understanding the patterns left behind by the estimated 10,000 carts and wagons that rolled around ancient Pompeii. He examines the archaeological evidence, carved into the stone streets, to show how the city dealt with its relentless flow of traffic.
TRANSCRIPT
Whatever type of vehicle this turns out to be, it was part of what was a vibrant and bustling urban center before the eruption.
It would have been among an estimated 10,000 carts and wagons rolling around the city.
-In the streets of Pompeii, carts were moving constantly up and down the streets, filling them with the activity of daily life.
-The paved streets still bear the scars of all those ancient wheels.
Professor Eric Poehler is an expert at understanding the patterns left behind by this relentless flow of traffic.
He's discovered that ancient Pompeii had a very modern solution to preventing traffic jams on its narrow streets.
-We actually have the evidence for telling us that there's a one-way system of traffic here in the ancient city.
At this intersection, we can stop and look at how the ruts here on one side, which you can see -- how the carts were coming along, making this rut, but also hitting the stepping stone here and carving down into it, showing us that there's a strong interaction between the carts and the road.
But look here.
This evidence shows us that we can actually see which direction the cart was moving.
Imagine a giant wheel hitting this stone.
And as it hits the stone, slides across it, cutting into it, making a smooth area along the top and a less-smooth area along the bottom, until finally it leaves contact with the stone and turns to the right.
This can only happen when carts are coming from behind me.
-With so many animal-drawn vehicles, many buildings in Pompeii had their own stables, similar to the one where the new chariot has been found.
-We can see how this leads into a corridor that takes the cart all the way here into the stable, where the cart would have been detached from its animals, and the animals led back into the parts of the rear, where they could probably be given shade and water.
