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The floors in the Church of the Apostles. In 1948, Israeli archaeologist Jacob Pinkerfeld removed the present marble floor slabs and dug two pits revealing three earlier floors. Five inches below the present floor was a 12th-century Crusader floor; 1.5 feet below that, Pinkerfeld discovered a mosaic floor with geometric designs dating to the Byzantine period (fifth century); 4 inches below the mosaic, he uncovered the remains of a Roman floor (end of the first century), consisting of plaster fragments and stones from a possible pavement. A foundation ledge projecting into the hall at this final level indicated that this earlier Roman floor was the original building’s floor.