Mehmet Emin Sualp, a villager in Turkey's eastern Elazığ province, discovered an 84-square-meter single-piece mosaic floor depicting natural life in August 2024 while digging holes to plant saplings on a field. Experts dated the floor back to the Roman and Early Byzantine periods.
Believing it to be a historical artifact, Sualp reported the discovery to the Elazığ Museum Directorate and the gendarmerie. Upon inspection, teams determined the mosaic floor dated back to the Roman and Early Byzantine periods. Excavation and recovery efforts led by the Elazığ Museum Directorate, in coordination with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, uncovered an 84-square-meter single-piece mosaic floor, according to reporting by the Demirören News Agency (DHA).
The mosaic featured depictions of animals such as lions, mountain goats, ducks, hounds, deer, pheasants, boars, bears, geese, and Anatolian leopards, along with various tree and plant species. Ongoing excavations also revealed a church and a cellar in the area. The artifacts are believed to date back to the Roman and Early Byzantine period.
During his visit to the site, Governor Numan Hatipoğlu said, "I congratulate the landowner, our citizen who noticed this. If we identify additional areas in the region that require excavation, we will continue our work accordingly.”