French archaeologists working in the town of Uzes in southern France have uncovered the remains of a well preserved Roman mosaic dating from circa the 1st century AD. It was discovered inside a large stone structure that had a floor plan of roughly 250 m². Open to the south, the presence of a colonnade suggests that this building may have had a public function. The structure contained four separate rooms, two of which had simple concrete floors and walls decorated with painted plaster. A third room contained a mortared floor inlaid with tessera and this gave access to a spacious room of circa 60 m². The floor of this chamber was covered in a complex and beautiful mosaic pavement. It was decorated with geometric motifs that surround two central medallions formed of crowns, rays and chevrons. One of the medallions was furthered ornamented by the presence of four multi-coloured animals: an owl, a duck an eagle and a fawn. These beautiful mosaics form just one part of large multi-phase site at Uzes, which is still being excavated by archaeologists from INRAP. Hopefully they will find more interesting archaeology during the next phase of works.
What a find. Farout ! It’s in such great shape that I hate to say I believe it could be much older and more of a Greek influence. See the triple Greek key @the edge. See how it evolves into rt & lt swasticas ? Very old Greek. Maybe just borrowed by the artist. But the OWL is another thing altogether ! Thank you for showing me & the rest of the world this. Very cool !