ROME, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- Archeologists at Pompeii have unearthed the skeleton of a tethered horse wearing a richly decorated wooden saddle with bronze details, leading them to believe he belonged to a military commander or high-ranking official, Italian news agency ANSA reported on Sunday.

Photos of the dig site posted by ANSA showed the horse's skeleton along with that of at least two other horse skeletons inside what appears to have been a stable, from which they were unable to escape when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, engulfing the ancient Roman city of Pompeii and its inhabitants in lava and volcanic ash.

"This find is of rare importance," Pompeii Archeological Parl director Marco Osanna told ANSA, adding the horse was found on the grounds of what had been a luxury suburban villa in the northern section of Pompeii "with richly frescoed and furnished rooms and sumptuous terraces sloping overlooking the Gulf of Naples and Capri".

Osanna said 2 million euros (2.28 U.S. dollars) will be allocated in 2019 to continue the dig at Pompeii, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Italy . (1 euro = 1.14 USD)