Friday, April 10, 2015

Skeleton of Ottoman War Camel Discovered in Austria

Archaeologists in Austria have excavated the intact skeleton of a camel in a suburb of Vienna. It appears this camel was used by the Ottoman Army in the failed siege of Vienna in 1683.

Detailed analysis of the remains showed that it had worn a harness and had been ridden. Additionally, it proved to be a Bactrian - Dromedary cross, a hybrid that was very popular for use by the Ottoman military. I wondered what a two-hump x one-hump camel cross would look like, and Chas was able to give us a picture of one.

So there you are. Looks kind of like a Dromedary on steroids to me.

Oh, and while I was looking at the Wikipedia page about the siege of Vienna, I found this painting of Polish soldiers headed home after the battle with loot taken from the Ottomans. Including you know what. Maybe there are some more skeletons waiting to be found in Poland.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, well, you SHOULDA posted this one on Hump Day....L.B.