One of the oldest Hellenistic mosaics in Anatolia has been discovered at the ancient site of Assos in northwestern Turkey’s Çanakkale province. The mosaic is around 2,200 years old and was originally the floor of a gymnasium. Its appeal proved enduring so it survived intact and largely unscathed when the building was converted into a private residence during the Byzantine era.

It is a mosaic composed of polygonal stones in three colors used to create an elaborate series of geometric and vegetal patterns. A large six-leaf rosette is surrounded by a circle inside a square border with crosses in circles at each corner. The next band consists of triangles with the cross-in-circle design again at the corners. After that is a wave band followed by a Greek key meander band.

Another notable find in the latest excavation season (the 44th since digs resumed in 1981) was monumental tomb from the Roman era. Archaeologists first thought the sturdy cut stone structure may have been a fountain, but they realized it was a “heroon,” a shrine dedicated to a cult hero of Greco-Roman religion that was also a tomb for a figure of great importance to the Assos community, for example the founder of the city.

Located on the only deep natural harbor on the Aegean coast for 50 miles, Assos was founded by colonists from the island of Lesbos in the 7th century B.C. It was conquered by Alexander the Great in 334 B.C. and continued to be ruled by his successors of the Seleucid dynasty, later becoming part of the Kingdom of Pergamum until it fell under control of the Roman Republic in 133 B.C.