Archaeologists in Turkey have uncovered a Roman floor mosaic bearing the names of a cat and a dog, offering a rare glimpse of the animals that shared a wealthy household about 1,800 years ago.

The mosaic lies in a villa found beneath the ancient port city of Adramyttion on Turkey’s Aegean coast. The site is at Ören, a coastal neighbourhood in Balıkesir province built directly above the ancient city. The villa dates from the late second to the third century AD and has three large halls.

The largest and most elaborate mosaic was laid in what was probably the main reception hall, where guests would have seen it as they arrived. It measures about 5 metres by 3.6 metres and is divided into 15 panels in three rows. Most show birds, fish and big cats, alongside mythological figures including a gorgon thought to be Medusa and a winged horse that may be Pegasus.

The cat sits to the left of the entrance on a blue-green cushion, with its name, Emerald, written above it in Greek. Opposite, a dog appears to be running or leaping beside the inscription Ocean.

Archaeologist Hüseyin Murat Özgen, head of the Adramyttion research team at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in Istanbul, said the animals were probably familiar to the villa’s occupants and may have been pets. The cat’s relaxed pose on its cushion makes that reading more plausible.

Researchers suggest the name Emerald may be linked to the trade in emeralds from Roman Egypt, while Ocean may reflect Adramyttion’s importance as a port.

Özgen has led the scientific direction of excavations at Adramyttion since 2012. The villa was found only recently and was excavated in 2025 and early 2026. The winged horse recalls a motif used on coins minted by the city in the fourth century BC. Scenes of pygmies and birds are familiar from North African mosaics, which led Özgen to suggest the villa may have belonged to a merchant with links there, although the evidence does not yet identify the owner.

Research in the area continues, and the archaeologists are expected to look for more evidence about the people who lived in the villa.