ERETRIA ​– During the installation of a new single water supply pipeline in Eretria, Greece, archaeologists unearthed part of a house from the late Classical period, mid-4th century BC, which includes a remarkably preserved pebbled mosaic floor featuring two satyrs, according to an August 3 news release from the Hellenic Ministry of Culture.

The structure was found in what was the center of the ancient city, near the temple of Daphniforos Apollo, the area known for the ‘Panathenaic Amphorae’ and the ‘House of the Mosaics,’ where houses of the 4th century BC, decorated in many cases with elaborate pebbled mosaic floors, have been unearthed in the past.

During the excavation, a four-sided room with an almost square layout was found. The mosaic floor is made of natural pebbles and features a central design, 1.13 meters (about 3.7 feet) in diameter, depicting satyrs, two male figures with animal-like features (tail, horns, and pointed ears). One is young and plays a double flute, while the other is bearded, older, and seems to be dancing to the music. Pebbles of various colors (white, black, red, yellow) have been used to render the features of the face and details of the body, including yellow pebbles for the hair, lending realism and vitality to the figures.

Along the north, east and west sides of the room, a raised mortar floor, 0.935m (about 3.07 feet) wide and about 2-3 centimeters (1-1.2 inches) high, was also unearthed, a structure that was used to place beds or recliners, an element that is often found in residences of the same period in Eretria and leads to the identification of the space as one where gatherings and banquets were held for men. In fact, the performance of the satyrs who are in a cheerful mood, enjoying themselves to the sounds of music, is also connected figuratively to the use of the space, which was intended for the celebrations that took place at the house.

After its abandonment in the first Christian centuries (5th-6th century AD), the site was used as a cemetery, as can be deduced from the identification of five tombs (four with ceramic roofs and one simple pit grave), which had been dug inside the embankment of the room and in some cases had intruded and disturbed the floor, as well as five more tombs (four tiled roofs and one simple pit) of the same period to the south, outside of the room.

After the completion of the excavation research and the first assessment of the archaeological data, the house and the pebble mosaic floor probably date after the middle of the 4th century BC, the time when the luxurious private houses appear in ancient Eretria and follow the well-known architectural type with the central peristyle courtyard, around which the private areas for the family and the public areas for official occasions and banquets are situated. Similar pebble floors from the ‘House of the Mosaics’ have been dated to around 360-350 BC.