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Archaeologists have discovered a fantastically-looking 1,500-year-old house in Turkey, decorated with illusory murals and terracotta tiles on the floor with prints of puppies and possible chicken decorations pressed onto it.
The house may have been used by people involved in the military, the researchers noted.
“The tiles have preserved the paw prints of puppies and, in a rare case, the hoof print of a goat,” Frances Gallart Marqués, former curator of Harvard Art Museums, said Jan. 6 at the meeting. ‘a presentation at the virtual joint annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) and the Classical Studies Society (SCS).
Related: 24 amazing archaeological discoveries
The animals likely stepped on the tiles as they dried out before firing, the researchers said. Drawings of what may be chickens or ducks were also found on the floor tiles; “These were fingered before the tiles were fired,” said Gallart Marqués.
If the floor tiles were left visible and not covered by a carpet, the paw prints and possible chicken decorations would have gone well with the “whimsical” style of the murals in the house, the researchers told Live Science. The murals are painted on plaster and mimic draped curtains and polychrome marble, said Vanessa Rousseau, adjunct professor of art history at St. Thomas University in St. Paul, Minnesota, at the virtual meeting.
The mixture of colors and illusions in the paintings combined with the possible chicken decorations on the floor as well as the light coming through the windows could create a fantastic look. One could imagine being “surrounded by the somewhat surreal forgery of painted marble and draperies” with the light coming through the windows and “shining on the markings of these birds on the terra cotta floor,” Rousseau said during his presentation .
While the paintings and prints of puppies can be playful, five long swords found in the house beg the question of whether the locals were involved in the war. Long swords are “spathae”, which are straight swords used by the ancient Romans that were generally more than 20 inches (50 centimeters) in length.
Related: The coolest ancient weapons discovered in 2020
Since only three other swords of any type have been found in the excavated parts of Sardis, the discovery of five long swords in this one house is remarkable, the researchers told Live Science. In addition to long swords, archaeologists also found buckles with designs suggesting they were worn by members of the military and a lead seal that could have been used to stamp official documents. These findings, along with the house’s central location in Sardis, suggest that the inhabitants of the house were part of the town’s military or civilian authority, the researchers said.
The house was in use for over 200 years before an earthquake destroyed it in the early 7th century. The excavations of the Sardis Expedition at Harvard University are being carried out with permission from the Turkish government and are being led by Professor Nicholas Cahill of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Originally posted on Live Science.
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