Professor Dr. Nurettin Arslan, a faculty member at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University and head of the Assos excavation team, shared details about the findings. "Previous researchers had excavated a structure they called a 'fountain structure'. After the excavations, it was revealed that the quite large monumental structure we mentioned is not a fountain, but an 1,800-year-old monumental tomb belonging to one of the important families in Assos," he said, according to Hürriyet.
"In Assos, we know a tomb monument belonging to two brothers on the west side of the southern stoa. We can say that the unearthed tomb is a heroon, that is, a monumental tomb belonging to a prominent family in the city during the Roman period," said Arslan, as reported by Anadolu.
The newly discovered mosaic is made with polygonal stones and consists of three-colored plant and geometric motifs. It was preserved completely intact until today. "We can say that it is one of the first mosaics with polygonal tesserae from the Hellenistic period found in Anatolia," said Arslan, according to Sözcü. "Good samples of such mosaics are in some cities of Macedonia and Greece," he added, as reported by A Haber.
"The fact that the mosaics have reached today without any damage is actually a great fortune," he added, according to OdaTV.
Excavation work in Assos has been ongoing since 1981 by Turkish researchers, following initial scientific excavations between 1881 and 1883.
Assos, located on a volcanic hill opposite the island of Lesbos, on the southern coast of the region formerly known as Troas in antiquity, has been an important port city throughout the ages.
Arslan pointed out that excavation works were conducted at different points of the city, and important finds were reached.
This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq