During this season, the KUSP has concluded the excavation of Building 4, a large and highly decorated structure adjacent to the Earthquake House in the ancient city of Kourion. Building 4 was destroyed in the earthquakes of the mid-fourth century CE that devastated Kourion and other cities across the Mediterranean region. It is apparent from the deposit of broken artifacts and building stones found above Building 4 that it was never rebuilt following its destruction. Instead, it was further buried with debris from earthquake cleanup efforts when other parts of Kourion were cleared and rebuilt.

KUSP has excavated nine interior rooms in Building 4. Of note is an exterior facing room on the east side of the building that appears to have served as public space. Bordered by a large exterior wall with cisterns used to store fresh water, this room has a mosaic floor, marble-covered walls, and was once adorned with two marble statues.

The mosaic floor is composed of white tesserae (tiles) bordered with two bands of black tesserae. Between these bands is a black criss-cross pattern separated by medallions. At the corners, the mosaic is decorated with geometric designs that include red and blue accent tesserae. One wall of this room was decorated with sheets of white marble at the bottom and different coloured marble above. When the earthquake that destroyed this building struck, most of the marble fell from the wall and broke as it landed on the floor.

The excavation of Building 4 has given us a greater understanding of life at Kourion during the fourth century CE and the events of that fateful and devastating moment that ended the lives of many of its inhabitants and changed the character of the city. While the finds from the 2024 season of the Kourion Urban Space Project have been impressive, the remains of the earthquake victims speak the loudest of the human experience of living and dying in a Late Roman period city on Cyprus.