Welcome to Morning Open Thread, a daily post with a MOTley crew of hosts who choose the topic for the day. We support our community, invite and share ideas, and encourage thoughtful, respectful dialogue in an open forum.
The diarist gets to sleep in if she wants to, and she can show up long after the post published. That is a feature, not a bug. Other than that, site rulz rule.
Join us, please.
From University of Leicester on a mosaic floor discovered during an archaeological excavation in Leicester last year: “The mosaic is not of the same high quality as the famous Blackfriars mosaic, which was found in Leicester in the 19th century and is one of the finest mosaics in Britain. Instead, it is likely to be typical of the type of floor more widely affordable to many of the Roman town’s population.
“Lifting it was a huge challenge which was only successfully achieved because of the efforts of the entire team working closely together. The mosaic is made-up of thousands of tiny tesserae. These all had to be lifted and kept in the correct sequence to preserve the pattern on the mosaic. This was done by gluing hessian to the mosaic’s surface to hold it together, then the mortar base into which the tesserae were set was cut away so that thin boards could be slid underneath the mosaic. The mosaic was then carefully lifted in sections and taken to the studio of our conservator, Theo Sturge, who had the challenge of conserving and reassembling it.” See the video description and ULASNews for more information.
☕
Grab your cup and pull up a chair.
What is on your mind this morning?