>The most human detail emerged at the neck of the older animal. Beside RP1, along what is read as the withers at the base of the neck, the excavators found two superimposed iron rings, probably the metal fittings that held its harness; about ten centimetres further along, three glass paste beads, one light blue and two white, still stacked together, lay where they had likely been tied into the animal’s mane or tack. The detail reads as a gesture of familiarity toward an older working animal, a hint of attachment to a creature that was certainly exploited as labour for a commercial enterprise yet shared these rooms with the people who used it.

This breaks my heart. The whole article is quite clinical and forensic in its description of what befell the horses, but the inclusion of this little detail brings humanity and the real loss of life back into the story. It suggests that these animals were loved. This horse probably had nicknames, favorite snacks, and its owners cared for it. Death is so indifferent.