A huge Roman mosaic that was uncovered in southern Turkey by archaeologists from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
The well preserved tiles once decorated a bathhouse during the Roman Empire's zenith.
The well preserved tiles once decorated a bathhouse during the Roman Empire's zenith.
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TechTranscript
00:00 I'm Michael Hoff and I have unearthed a massive Roman mosaic.
00:06 The mosaic is spectacular because it is extremely large.
00:11 As far as we are aware, it looks to be the largest mosaic of its kind ever found in southern Turkey.
00:20 It's also unusual in its preservation. It's extremely well preserved.
00:26 The part that we have excavated, and we have uncovered approximately 50% of it,
00:31 it looks to be in pristine shape.
00:34 We were surprised to have found a mosaic of such size and of such caliber in this region of Turkey,
00:44 an area that had usually been off the map, off the radar screen of most ancient historians and archaeologists,
00:51 and suddenly this thing comes into view.
00:55 It does cause us to change our focus about what we think rough Cilicia was like in antiquity.
01:02 Why is this find so important?
01:07 The reason why is because this region is not well understood in terms of history and archaeology.
01:14 It's not a place where archaeologists have spent much time working in,
01:19 and therefore everything that we find adds more evidence to our understanding of this area of the Roman Empire.
01:30 We're beginning to understand that it was perhaps more Romanized,
01:34 more in line with the rest of the Roman world than had been suspected before.
01:40 I lead a team of 60 students and scholars from the University of Nebraska,
01:46 other United States institutions, and as well as our sister school, Ataturk University in Turkey.
01:54 We have an opportunity to get down and get dirty, uncover objects that had never been seen before by modern eyes,
02:04 so that students get a touch of the artifacts, they can measure the objects,
02:08 they can understand what it might have been like in antiquity,
02:12 to visit a Roman temple, to walk on a mosaic pavement, to celebrate in an athletic arena,
02:21 to go into an ancient bath and experience what it might have been like,
02:26 to actually walk into a still standing Roman building from 2,000 years ago.
02:31 It's a rush.
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