World’s OLDEST extant mosaic pavement - Gordion Mosaics - Yassihüyük, Turkey
Posted by: puczmeloun
N 39° 39.142 E 031° 59.811
36S E 413937 N 4389655
World’s OLDEST extant mosaic pavement (The Gordion Mosaics) in modern Yassihüyük
Waymark Code: WMFJH5
Location: Türkiye
Date Posted: 10/26/2012
Views: 1
In 1956-7 the world’s OLDEST extant mosaic pavement was discovered at Gordion. Measuring approximately 32’ x 35’ and covering the entire floor of a large Megaron, the 9th c BCE pavement of small red, blue, white and black pebbles is an exquisite complex geometric patterning of overlapping designs possibly depicting woven textiles for which the city was so famous. Ongoing excavations of the Citadel in the 1960s resulted in the removal of the mosaic pavement to the local Gordion museum. Unlike later classical and Byzantine mosaics, the Gordion mosaics were laid in clay—not lime mortars—and their transfer proved difficult for then current practices. Set in cement, their current display is disfiguring and the materials and environment are causing deterioration of this world class example of ancient mosaic art.
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