‘Could Be This Year’s Biggest Find’: Ancient Roman Mosaic Floor Uncovered In Verona
Interview
When it seems like everything’s down and 2020 hasn’t got much to offer in the good news department, fortune is suddenly back on our side. The past twenty-four hours have brought our times an ancient treasure which is said to be one of the biggest archaeological discoveries of the year.
Italian archaeologists have discovered a breathtaking Roman mosaic floor in the Valpolicella region in the Verona province of Italy. Hidden just underneath a vineyard, “the mosaics dating back to the first century after Christ were found in excellent condition,” reported the local news source. The historian Myko Clelland helped to spread the breaking news on social media with his now-viral tweet just 14 hours ago. The post has now got a whopping 266K likes and 58K retweets—and counting!
So let’s take a look at this beautiful piece of history below which has scored humanity some solid karma points in a tiring battle against the bad news.
Historian Myko Clelland shared the news about the mind-blowing discovery and it went viral on Twitter
Image credits: DapperHistorian
Bored Panda contacted Myko Clelland, the historian who shared the news on Twitter, to ask him about the importance of this mosaic. Although discoveries like this occur more often than you might imagine, Myko said that “it’s rare to find something in such good condition and so complete.” “Usually,” he continued, “man and nature have taken their course and parts may be missing or damaged.”
The uncovering of the mosaic work was done by the Soprintendenza di Verona, an organization “who have been tirelessly working to showcase some of the most tantalizing remnants of the ancient past in the area.” Myko said that he’s got a family in Verona “who showed me what they were working on and how magnificent what they have discovered is, and I just had to share it with the world—they deserve all the credit.”
And people got rightly confused by how such treasure could get buried underneath the soil
Image credits: Smokesniper
Image credits: DapperHistorian
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Image credits: DapperHistorian
It’s a natural process that things become covered over time and nature reclaims them. Myko commented: “Soil and leaves can cover them, floods can bring silt and water, or dust settles on them.”
Of course, it’s not only nature that’s responsible for that. “People have a habit of often building in the same locations and on top of their previous efforts—they might build over the foundations of old buildings or atop their ruins.” That means that things like this mosaic slowly become buried over time.“
There are parts of old Mesopotamia, for example, that have hills in areas that should be entirely flat,” Myko said. These are actually the remains of entire towns, where residents built layer after layer until the whole thing became meters tall.
Image credits: JayHadHope
This Twitter user has shared another impressive ancient finding
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Image credits: DapperHistorian
As for the future, there may be many more discoveries like this in our lifetime. “They may not all be as beautiful as this one, but each one can connect us to the world of our ancestors, which makes every find absolutely priceless.
Others were amazed by how people still find ancient treasures like this
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And these commentators wasted no time to crack a joke
There's a bit of drool coming out the side of my mouth right now. As to the question of how these things get buried, imagine all the food you eat and all the things you use in your house which get broken and thrown in the trash. There was no trash dump in most towns. All this waste just got put in the garden and the ground level increased. Often houses themselves had lots of rotting timber and decaying mud walls by the time they were abandoned. When the house was replaced, it was easier to bury it and build again at street level than at the old level. You can see very old houses today that are below street level. The alternative was the plot was abandoned and then a farmer ploughed the site into a field, churning the accumulated piles of dirt level over the old foundations.
There is a good number of very impressive antique mosaic floors that survived the millenia actually. Half the floors in the Vatican are ancient mosaic floors, I discovered.
Oh my god! Oh my god!! I’m going to geek out in another hour or two after I’ve had my coffee.
Italy, folks! 80% of the worldwide art and history is in hereeee, just come and visit! ;)
@regi stra. Some of over here will have to wait so we don't re-infect you. 😢
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What an amazing find! It speaks to the level of craftsmanship of ancient Rome that these mosaic tiles are still in excellent shape and the colours are still intense. Who knows what other amazing archaeological sites are still waiting to be discovered.
I remember reading Bill Bryson's "Notes from a Small Island" about travelling England. One of the places he went was in a forest somewhere, not signposted, but on maps as an historical site. In the forest, you move some sheets of cardboard and there's one of these Roman mosaic floors. You have a look, put the cardboard back and wander off. Just amazing that something like that just sits there and most people don't even know.
this thing like this and Indiana Jones movie make me have a dream to work like this..
Throughout what was the Roman empire you can see evidence of the fact that they cleared forests, used the lumber for charcoal and construction and planted olives and grapes which do not hold the soil as well. Many once coastal ports like Ostia Antica (Rome's major port) are now a kilometer or more from the sea. Libya and Turkey were renowned for their lush forests, now arid wastes. This site appears to be on a hillside and that might explain why it was deeply buried. [I am sure glad humans have learned not to destroy their environment for short term gain, aren't you?]
Have we forgotten about UFO being real with a being released on the sly?>.> Wow, what a year.. if UFOs dont even make the list anymore, lol.
There's a bit of drool coming out the side of my mouth right now. As to the question of how these things get buried, imagine all the food you eat and all the things you use in your house which get broken and thrown in the trash. There was no trash dump in most towns. All this waste just got put in the garden and the ground level increased. Often houses themselves had lots of rotting timber and decaying mud walls by the time they were abandoned. When the house was replaced, it was easier to bury it and build again at street level than at the old level. You can see very old houses today that are below street level. The alternative was the plot was abandoned and then a farmer ploughed the site into a field, churning the accumulated piles of dirt level over the old foundations.
There is a good number of very impressive antique mosaic floors that survived the millenia actually. Half the floors in the Vatican are ancient mosaic floors, I discovered.
Oh my god! Oh my god!! I’m going to geek out in another hour or two after I’ve had my coffee.
Italy, folks! 80% of the worldwide art and history is in hereeee, just come and visit! ;)
@regi stra. Some of over here will have to wait so we don't re-infect you. 😢
Load More Replies... What an amazing find! It speaks to the level of craftsmanship of ancient Rome that these mosaic tiles are still in excellent shape and the colours are still intense. Who knows what other amazing archaeological sites are still waiting to be discovered.
I remember reading Bill Bryson's "Notes from a Small Island" about travelling England. One of the places he went was in a forest somewhere, not signposted, but on maps as an historical site. In the forest, you move some sheets of cardboard and there's one of these Roman mosaic floors. You have a look, put the cardboard back and wander off. Just amazing that something like that just sits there and most people don't even know.
this thing like this and Indiana Jones movie make me have a dream to work like this..
Throughout what was the Roman empire you can see evidence of the fact that they cleared forests, used the lumber for charcoal and construction and planted olives and grapes which do not hold the soil as well. Many once coastal ports like Ostia Antica (Rome's major port) are now a kilometer or more from the sea. Libya and Turkey were renowned for their lush forests, now arid wastes. This site appears to be on a hillside and that might explain why it was deeply buried. [I am sure glad humans have learned not to destroy their environment for short term gain, aren't you?]
Have we forgotten about UFO being real with a being released on the sly?>.> Wow, what a year.. if UFOs dont even make the list anymore, lol.
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