The mosaic's ancient optical illusion.

The ancient Megiddo prison mosaic is proving to be a hit with neuroscientists as well as archaeologists.

The diamonds in the corners of the image can be seen as3-D cubes that can be seen either from the inside or from the outside, an effect known as ambiguous or bistable perception.

It turns out, that these kind of optical illusions are quite common in mosaics from various regions of the Roman Empire, but this find is a particularly fine example of the phenomenon, say cognitive neuroscientists and art history buffs Eric Altschuler of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, and Alex Holcombe of Cardiff University, UK.

For the original text visit http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v440/n7085/full/440728a.html.

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