Ancient Marble Floor Surface Unearthed in Turkey

MUGLA PROVINCE, TURKEY—The Anadolu Agency reports that an ancient floor surface made up of at least four different colors of marble has been uncovered at the site of the ancient city of Stratonikeia in southwestern Turkey. Archaeologist Bilal Söğüt said the church was constructed on a colonnaded street after an earthquake in A.D. 365, and was in use into the seventh century, when the site was used as a cemetery holding more than 60 tombs. “Here, we exhibit both the floor of the church and several Byzantine tombs which were built by the materials from the church’s floor,” he said. To read about a fifth-century A.D. basilica submerged in Lake Iznik, Turkey, go to "Sunken Byzantine Basilica," one of ARCHAEOLOGY's Top 10 Discoveries of 2014.