A mosaic floor removed from a Roman villa at the ancient site of Pompeiopolis in northern Turkey has been cleaned, conserved and remounted in its original locations.
Located in the Paphlagonia region, Pompeiopolis was founded in 65/64 B.C. by Roman general Gnaeus Pompeius, aka Pompey, after his defeat of Mithridates of Pontus. Pompey made a point of founding new cities in the former Pontic kingdom to seal northern Anatolia’s connection to Rome. Pompeiopolis flourished in the Roman imperial era, earning the title of the “metropolis of Paphlagonia.” For a brief period in the mid-2nd century, it even minted coins.
The villa where the mosaics were found covers an area of more than 19,000 square feet, making it one of the four largest villas in Anatolia. It was built in the 170s A.D. and remained in use until the 550s A.D. So far archaeologists have not been able to determine who the villa belonged to in any period as there are no identifying inscriptions. The size of the villa and its luxurious appointments indicate it was occupied by some of the prominent and wealthiest residents of the city, likely local magistrates.
Excavation revealed a large mosaic covering the floor of ones of the rooms. It was a later addition to the villa, installed in the 4th century. The room the mosaic is in had a fire in antiquity and the heat damaged the mosaic tiles. Moisture penetration added to the damage, rippling the floor and advancing the deterioration of the mortar until it no longer adhered the mosaic tiles to the floor. When archaeologists unearthed the mosaic, most of the tiles were detached and the deterioration was so advanced they estimated the mosaic would be completely destroyed in three to five years.
“The floor mosaics reflect the fashion of that period, consisting of small, crafted colored stones forming various figures and patterns. Today, we use carpets, but in that period, geometric patterns resembling carpet designs were used. In restoration, we don’t do any reconstruction or completion. We conserve it and put it back. Completing mosaics can be challenging because achieving the entire pattern or creating an image is difficult. Even the smallest application in this process can have negative results. That’s why we follow the method of removing, conserving and reinstalling without adding anything,” he said.
Archaeologists removed the tiles to the laboratory of the Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Letters of Karabük University, where they were cleaned, catalogued and rearranged in their original configurations one at a time. The completed mosaic has now been reinstalled in the floor of the villa without any loss of tile.
