A 500-square-meter mosaic depicting an intricate design of flamingos, peacocks, ducks and other animals that adorned the floor of a fifth-century C.E. villa, was unearthed recently on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean near Caesarea.

Parts of the floor were first discovered in the 1950s by archaeologist Shmuel Yeivin. However, it was not fully excavated at the time due to budgetary constraints.

This time, after an initial week-long excavation by Dr. Yosef Porat and Peter Gendelman of the Israel Antiquities Authority, the authority refused to continue the dig, citing a lack of funds. The Caesarea Development Corporation has agreed to pay for conservation so the floor can be put on display.

One expert, who is not connected with the dig but visited the site two weeks ago, told Haaretz the villa is "the most impressive ever discovered so far in Israel."

The floor was apparently part of a central courtyard in the two-story villa, which covered 1.5 dunams and was destroyed during the Arab conquest in 640 C.E.

A table was discovered in one of the rooms and its glass was created using a previously unknown technique, apparently involving gold leaf. Other parts of the villa, including the second floor, also contained spectacular mosaics.

This is not the first case in which a budgetary dispute has ensued over the

excavation of a mosaic. In the 1990s, an American-Jewish donor agreed to fund restoration of a magnificent fourth-century mosaic discovered in Lod, but demanded it be transfered to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem for display. The Lod municipality, however, insisted that it remain in place. When the issue was not resolved, the mosaic was covered up.

Mosaics that are not properly conserved are subject to damage by the elements and robbery, as was the fate of a mosaic depicting fish from an ancient bathhouse in Tiberias, discovered in the 1950s by Bezalel Rabani. With the recent renewal of excavations in Tiberias by Prof. Yizhar Hirschfeld, large parts of the mosaic were found to have been stolen.