The anatomy of a centaur ( half man , half horse ) raises a band of questions . For example , which organ go where ? And what ’s the purpose of throw two trunk ? If scientist could only get their hands on some ancient centaur remain , maybe it would clear thing up . Sadly , the centaur skeleton currently on showing at the John C.Hodges Library at the University of Tennessee , Knoxville is a piece of artistic creation , not scientific discipline .
The remains of the “ Centaur of Volos ” were fabricate in 1980 by artist and biology professor Bill Willers when he matt-up prompt to commingle the bones of a human specimen from his university ’s biology section with those of a Shetland pony . After tea - staining them both for an authentic , logical look , the first - ever centaur skeleton was have a bun in the oven .
The bone sculpture was first exhibit at the Madison Art Center before touring other colleges in the mid-1980s . By the ' 90s , it had ended up in storage , much to the dismay of two professor at the University of Tennessee , Knoxville . Beauvais Lyons(currently Ellen McClung Berry Professor of Art ) andNeil Greenberg(Emeritus Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology ) fight to raise money to buy the fictitious artefact and were at last successful .
Since 1994 , the while has been on display at the university ’s John C. Hodges Library as part of an exhibit calledThe Centaur Excavations ofVolos . Instead of standing on four legs , the skeleton is half - buried in an artificial dig site surrounded by ceramic artifact . The display also let in an anatomically - correct Centaurus illustration and a plaque that reads , " one of three centaur burials discovered in 1980 by the Archaeological Society of Argos Orestiko eight kilometers north-east of Volos , Greece . ”
Even after three decennium , Bill Willers ’s Centaurus obsession is still going strong . In 2008 , he commission a stand up Centaurus made from a human skeleton and that of a zebra that he call theCentaur ofTymfi . We ’re not solely sure if a half - human beings , half - zebra constitute a centaur , but we ’ll let this one slide .
[ h / tonne : Strange Remains ]
