Did you always wanted to know how an ancient octopus looks like? Excavation in the Small Theater of Ancient Ambracia revealed the pebble mosaic of a bathhouse dated to 4th century BC.
The round mosaic has a diameter of 3.8 meter and it covers the main round part of the bathhouse.
The mosaic consists of small white and dark river pebbles and in some places of off-white and reddish pebbles.
The pebbles show scenes related to water.
Besides a border decoration of 0.30 m breight setting it off from other spaces, the mosaic includes cupids playing with animals, swans, fish, dolphins, water fowl and an octopus with give tentacles and reddish eyes.
The pebble mosaic is earlier than the theater, and is related to a similar mosaic discovered in 1976, partly covered by the eastern part of the theater and later removed to the Archaeological Museum of Arta.
In a press release, the Greek Culture Ministry said the estimated date of origin was based on architectural evidence and on comparisons with pebble mosaics found at the Ancient Corinth baths, dated to the mid-4th century.
Ambracia (or Amvrakia and Ampracia), was a city of ancient Greece on the site of modern Arta in West Greece. It was captured by the Corinthians in the 625 BC under the leadership of by Gorgus, son of the Corinthian tyrant Cypselus.
Blue circle marks the area where the mosaic was found, light blue where the oldest finding was discovered.
The supervision of the excavations is by archaeologist Nektarios-Petros Gioutsos and three conservators have already taken measures to preserve and stabilize the new find.
Arta, in western Greece, has been inhabited continuously from antiquity to the present, and the layered remains of older settlements are still visible in various parts of the present city. The Small Theater is located in the center of the modern city.
The excavation is funded by the EU’s NSRF funding plan for 2014-2020.
