We Recreated a Roman Mosaic… Here’s What Happened | Part 3

Added: 2026-05-14

[00:00:13]We've learned an enormous amount about [music] what it must have been like to make a mosaic in the Roman period. They clearly could lay these complex geometric patterns [music] easily, simply, and they also could make anything work. They could have very [music] irregular spaces. They could make it look perfectly regular. Um, they just were fantastic craftspeople.

[00:00:38]The very first stage of the mosaic is to prepare all our [music] materials, which starts with cutting the tesserae, but also laying out the design onto the floor. That group [music] was led by Gary, and he was essentially using chalk lines to lay out the basic grid. [music] This included a central round panel set within a square with four spandrels, and then a series of geometric bands. The other thing that we were doing was to mix up the lime mortar. So, we had quicklime, and we were slaking it with sand in preparation for [music] the actual laying. One of the challenges is that we just didn't have much time. We only had about 24 hours really to to slake it. Cutting, well, we had a whole range of different >> [music] >> people working with us from very experienced professional mosaicists to others who hadn't [music] really cut tesserae before. So, we had to do a little bit of training there, a little bit of working with people to help them develop their skills, but fairly quickly everyone came together.

[00:01:48]Stage two really was to start with the laying of the mosaic. What we had decided here was to work from the center outwards, but there was a lot of discussion between us about whether this was the right thing or wrong thing to do.

[00:02:02]But we needed to get the the figurative panel in and the work going on on that figurative panel as soon as possible.

[00:02:10]Um, and so that's where we began, working in the top part of that, and then creating the guilloche above it.

[00:02:17]Now, a guilloche, this is a two-strand guilloche that goes around the central panel.

[00:02:20]>> [music] >> Imagine two strings or braids wrapped around each other. These sorts of complex geometric motifs can be broken down very simply into nodes, and then we can lay the pattern around those nodes.

[00:02:33]And so long as you know what you're doing, this works very neatly. What we realized, and and perhaps one of the challenges was, was that actually we started with the most complex, most important part of the mosaic to some degree, and so we were testing some of our working methods in the bit which was going to be most obvious. And perhaps in hindsight we might have done some tests elsewhere, >> [music] >> but largely it sort of worked out with that central panel, and we [music] pushed towards the back of the room. We couldn't work around Gary because he was there making the mosaic in the center of the floor, and we needed now to push out [music] into the swastika meander border. So, we worked on the square rectangular part first, but what we realized was is that we really should have started with the more complex swastika meander. Um, and that was really the challenge. In some ways we decided to do the easy bit first by going into the square when we really should have started with the swastika meanders.

[00:03:38]We did eventually get to those, [music] and we realized our mistake.

[00:03:43]It wasn't highly problematic.

[00:03:45]What we also figured out as we were working is that we could correct mistakes fairly easily. We could chop areas out, which were still sitting on their setting bed, and move them about.

[00:03:56]We didn't have to do this too often, but there's a couple of moments where we have to shift the tesserae around.

[00:04:01]Outside of the swastika meander border, we've then got a a little bit more of a complex three-strand guilloche. This has two nodes, and so we've got to lay this out very carefully. And this is what we'd learned from our mistakes with the swastika meander. We worked at the corners first, and then we start joining it all together. But we know how many of [music] these nodes there are, and we know for sure that the pattern is going to fit all the way across the top of the mosaic, and then down each of the sides.

[00:04:35]And what we realized at this point that it was really good to work side by side, so we often have one more capable, more skilled, knowledgeable mosaic maker with someone who might be slightly less, but they're very quickly picking up [music] the methods, the techniques, and then applying them. And then often passing them on to someone else who then comes and works beside them. So, this is slightly slower work. It's taking us a bit more time. There's a lot of thought going into the making of this three-strand guilloche, but it's going to go round and really look very complex, although it's relatively easy to do once you know what you're doing.

[00:05:18]With Gary finishing [music] the central panel, we can now begin to really charge towards the front of the room. You'll see us sort of knocking this circle in.

[00:05:27]We're not using formwork. We're using [music] long sort of straight bits of wood all over the mosaic just to help us create those straight lines, but also maintain the level. You'll see us knocking down the surface a lot. We're essentially pounding the tesserae down into the mortar underneath, making a really good adhesion between [music] each piece and the mortar below, but also making sure that it's level. And then bring the square down. That's firstly our swastika [music] meander border, bringing that round and closing that off. And then the final bit, which is a long piece of work, is bringing the [music] rest of the three-strand guilloche all the way down and around to the front. We now want [music] to start putting in the outside. This border we call the adjusting border, and this has the larger pieces. So, these are more like 2 by 2 rather [music] than 1 by 1.

[00:06:21]What we first got to figure out a little bit is how to lay this and how to lay it to level. So, we need a little bit more mortar. So, we're changing the consistencies of our mortar a little bit at this point. We're putting a bit more sand in to create a firmer base into which we can put these larger tesserae.

[00:06:39]And we're also working out how to use long wooden battens >> [music] >> to maintain our level.

[00:06:45]So, we're putting down splodges of mortar.

[00:06:48]>> [music] >> We're sitting the wooden battens on that, and then we're laying between three and six lines of tesserae at a time, pushing out to the back of the room.

[00:06:59]So, that final bit that we're coming to now is as we bring the mosaic down to the front round that the adjusting border, those edges, is we want to now clean [music] the center of the floor. We're finishing grouting, so grouting's going on all the time, but those [music] bits in the middle we can really go and clean. Now, all that's left to do is to show the Butser team, make sure that they're happy with it.

[00:07:24]>> [music] >> We're really excited to show them, but we'll have to see what they think.

[00:07:38]So, we haven't quite finished, but Wow, that's amazing.

[00:07:47]>> [laughter] >> That makes the [music] room look so different.

[00:07:50]>> Yes, and you'll recognize your founder.

[00:07:53]Yes, that's Peter. Peter Reynolds in the center. It's based on a mosaic from [music] Breading, isn't it, Bella?

[00:08:01]Um, where there's a a famous Hellenistic astronomer called Aratus represented in the middle of the floor. He's pointing to a celestial globe, but here Peter Reynolds points his trowel at an Iron Age roundhouse. That looks really good.

[00:08:17]Get yourself a piece.

[00:08:19]In you go.

[00:08:20]Beautiful. Yeah, go ahead.

[00:08:24]Great.

[00:08:25]Your own little line.

[00:08:28]>> [laughter] >> It's [music] been the most wonderful experience for me. It's been hugely pleasurable being here on Butser Ancient Farm.

[00:08:42]>> [music] >> We've lived here for nearly 2 weeks now.

[00:08:44]Everyone's been so generous and kind to us. It's been [music] a bit of an emotional roller coaster, of course.

[00:08:51]It's been really hard work. Hugely impressed by what everyone has done. The team have just been superhuman in in what they've achieved. We've actually laid this mosaic in about eight or so days, >> [music] >> which is simply fantastic.

[00:09:10]I think it is testament to all of their incredible skill, [music] their ability, their hard work, but also their patience in the face of, you know, what is a really hard thing to do, to lay a fairly large mosaic in a small cramped space [music] in high heat, but they've done it with incredible good grace and good humor.

[00:09:39]>> [music] [music]