<p>A life-sized marble head of Aphrodite - the goddess of love and beauty in Greek mythology - has been unearthed during excavations in Southern Turkey.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Archaeologists made the finding while uncovering an ancient pool-side mosaic at Antiochia ad Cragum (Antioch on the cliffs) on the Mediterranean coast.<br /><br />Buried under soil for hundreds of years, the statue has some chipping on her nose and face, 'LiveScience' reported.<br /><br />Researchers think her presence could shed light on the extent of the Roman Empire's wide cultural influence at the time of its peak.<br /><br />The excavators had been looking for more parts of the largest Roman mosaic ever found in Turkey: a 150 square meters marble floor elaborately decorated with geometric designs, adorning a plaza outside a Roman bath.<br /><br />During fresh excavations, they found the statue head lying face-down. The researchers think the marble head was likely long separated from its body; traces of lime kilns have been found near the site, suggesting many statues and hunks of stone would have been burned to be reused in concrete.<br /><br />The presence of an Aphrodite sculpture suggests Greek and Roman influence had become mainstream in far-flung cities like Antiochia ad Cragum in the first and second centuries AD, the excavation's director Michael Hoff said.<br /><br />Aphrodite's head is the first fragment of a monumental statue to be found at Antiochia ad Cragum over eight years of digging, Hoff, an art historian at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said.<br /><br />"We have niches where statues once were. We just didn't have any statues," Hoff said.<br /><br />"Finally, we have the head of a statue. It suggests something of how mainstream these people were who were living here, how much they were a part of the overall Greek and Roman traditions," said Hoff.<br /><br />The researchers also found other traces of Roman influence, such as a second mosaic adorning a building that looks like it might be a temple.</p>
<p>A life-sized marble head of Aphrodite - the goddess of love and beauty in Greek mythology - has been unearthed during excavations in Southern Turkey.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Archaeologists made the finding while uncovering an ancient pool-side mosaic at Antiochia ad Cragum (Antioch on the cliffs) on the Mediterranean coast.<br /><br />Buried under soil for hundreds of years, the statue has some chipping on her nose and face, 'LiveScience' reported.<br /><br />Researchers think her presence could shed light on the extent of the Roman Empire's wide cultural influence at the time of its peak.<br /><br />The excavators had been looking for more parts of the largest Roman mosaic ever found in Turkey: a 150 square meters marble floor elaborately decorated with geometric designs, adorning a plaza outside a Roman bath.<br /><br />During fresh excavations, they found the statue head lying face-down. The researchers think the marble head was likely long separated from its body; traces of lime kilns have been found near the site, suggesting many statues and hunks of stone would have been burned to be reused in concrete.<br /><br />The presence of an Aphrodite sculpture suggests Greek and Roman influence had become mainstream in far-flung cities like Antiochia ad Cragum in the first and second centuries AD, the excavation's director Michael Hoff said.<br /><br />Aphrodite's head is the first fragment of a monumental statue to be found at Antiochia ad Cragum over eight years of digging, Hoff, an art historian at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said.<br /><br />"We have niches where statues once were. We just didn't have any statues," Hoff said.<br /><br />"Finally, we have the head of a statue. It suggests something of how mainstream these people were who were living here, how much they were a part of the overall Greek and Roman traditions," said Hoff.<br /><br />The researchers also found other traces of Roman influence, such as a second mosaic adorning a building that looks like it might be a temple.</p>