# Reconstruction and Visualization of the Mosaic Floor of the Temple of Pitiunt Hillfort
## 3 Results and Discussions
### Mosaic of Narthex
#### 3.1.2 Rhombus Panel  
An ornamental covering forms the southern part of the decorative border. Its pattern consists of intersecting diagonal rhombuses interlaced with alternating two-tone braids--\"wickerwork\"--and shaded rollers. Octagonal and round pendants depicting geometric designs and birds are placed at the tops and intersections of the rhombuses. During the construction of the barrier in the narthex of the later Temple No. 3, the eastern part of this cover was damaged. A trench was dug into the mosaic floor, and the foundation for the stone wall was made. The mosaic in this area was destroyed. As it was in the naos of the new temple, the eastern part of the real decorative border was preserved. However, it was possible to reconstruct the original appearance of this mosaic covering (Figure 6), thanks to the uniformity of the pattern.  
Figure 5: Pitiunt. Temple No. 2. Fragments of a perspective meander from the Pitsunda Archaeological Museum (photo by the authors, [PERSON]).  
Figure 6: A fragment of a full-size reproduction of the narthex mosaic from the Pitsunda Archaeological Museum (photo taken by the authors, [PERSON].) (**a**) and its reconstruction (**b**).  
This panel shows a pattern that was very common in Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. This pattern, similar to the meander, was used in different Roman villas, baths, synagogues and early Christian churches. Examples include the Roman Villa, Desenzano del Garda, the baths in the Roman Villa, La Olmeda in Room No. 1, Pedrosa de la Vega (Palencia, Castile and Leon), the House of Eirene in Philippopolis (modern day Plovdiv) [25], the early Christian cruciform temple of Kaoussie near Antioch [9], the early Christian temple of Shavei Zion in northern Israel [23], the [PERSON] (late 5 th century) in Heraclea Thracia [26], the early Christian Temple of [PERSON] in Trieste, the synagogue of [PERSON] [23] and the Horvat Brachot [23]. In the later sites of the Arab Caliphate, we find the transformation of this pattern, for example, in the palace of Caliph [PERSON] in Jericho (first half of the 8 th century) [24]. It is clear that the list of analogous sites from the 4 th to the 6 th centuries, which could continue much further, is rather long. Thus, throughout the Roman Empire, the pattern found in the Temple of Pitiunt No. 2 was widespread. Therefore, [PERSON]'s opinion about the existence of a certain local mosaic school of Bichvint-1 and Bichvint-2 with its unique features [9], due to the absence of similar sites both in the vicinity of Pitiunt and in the rest of northwestern Colchis, seems unproven.  
The analysis of the motif of this part of the Pitiunt mosaic and the decorative border of the narrative, comparing it with the analogies mentioned above, leads us to believe [PERSON] [12] and [PERSON] [13] that the Pitiunt mosaic of Temple No. 2 is from the 5 th century and not from the second half of the 4 th century, as [PERSON] had suggested [9].  
A number of errors relating to the pattern of the Pitiunt mosaic made by the mosaicist should be pointed out. They become more visible on a reconstructed panel (Figure 6b). It seems that the mosaicist started the mosaic without having planned the available space. He therefore began to distort and deform the pattern in order to fit it into the limited space. This shows the lack of a predesigned, calculated or detailed drawing.