PSA: My team almost wrecked a 2,000-year-old mosaic floor in Turkey last month

We were excavating a Roman villa near Ephesus and someone brought a heavy tool cart right over the edge of the tarp covering the main floor. I yelled to stop and we had to spend three hours carefully brushing away the dirt that had spilled onto the ancient tiles. Has anyone else had a close call with site damage that made your heart stop?

3 comments

3 Comments

angelawright25d ago

My cousin worked on a dig in Pompeii and someone nearly backed a truck into a wall fresco. The panic is real.

phoenixpalmer25d ago

Wait, wasn't the fresco actually on a house wall and not a dig site? I heard they're super careful about vehicle access for that exact reason, @angelawright. Your cousin must have had a heart attack.

jenny39120d ago

Yeah, wasn't it part of a villa that's still standing? I can't even imagine the rules for driving near something that old. Like, one wrong turn and you've wiped out a thousand years of history. They probably have spotters walking in front of every vehicle just to be safe. That kind of mistake would follow you forever.