Where was the Floor Mosaic made?
This mosaic, like other mosaics, was installed in situ, in its permanent location. That means it was made in Daphne in the house it was found in centuries later. Daphne is a suburb of Antioch, today in south east Turkey (see map). A photograph of excavations in 1938 at a bath complex with mosaic floors in Antioch can be seen to the right.
The WAM's floor mosaic with a border of vines and animals was in a private home rather than a public building. The materials, mostly limestone, could have been locally obtained. Limestone is a stone quarried in many locations, including the eastern Mediterranean area.
Early film footage of Princeton University's excavations at Antioch in 1932 are online. One of these films shows the process of raising a mosaic so that it could be moved; a similar process must have taken place when WAM's mosaic was lifted and moved.
