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Marble Blocks
At the time of its discovery, between 1908 and 1915, the Punta Scifo A shipwreck
seems to have had on board no fewer than 14 marble blocks (Table 11), from the
Proconnesian and Docimian quarries in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). At present, four of
these blocks are still on the seafloor, five can be seen in the roundabout of Caputi Square
in Croton, and four are located in Corazzo, for a total of 13 blocks. The single missing
item, BLC 14, was lost in the waters next to the dock while it was being offloaded in
1915. Presumably, it was never recovered, due to its excessive weight (22 tons according
to Paolo Orsi) and size (3.95 x 2.5 x 0.84 m), which almost capsized Forcellini’s
pontoon. 145 In 2006, D. Marino reminded me that there is reportedly one large marble
block from Punta Scifo A still visible under water among the large boulders of the new
dock in Croton’s harbor, and it is possible that more ancient material is buried in this
area. 146 A series of dives inside the harbor basin, at the base of the new dock, could
resolve this question. Thanks to Orsi’s detailed measurements, it would likely not be
difficult to determine whether any of the submerged artifacts are included in Orsi’s
catalog.
Table 11 provides a synopsis of the length, width, thickness, and tonnage of each
marble block, both in meters and Roman feet. It is noteworthy that the heaviest members
are those that were left under water in 1915, and that BLC 13 (20.45 tons) ranks first
among them, giving some indication of the trouble the Forcellinis experienced in dealing
145 Orsi 1921, 493. According to my own calculations, the block, given its dimensions, should have
weighed 21.26 metric tons or 23.43 English tons. This suggests that Paolo Orsi and the Engineer Forcellini
were using the metric system at the time to calculate weight, and not the Imperial system.
146 Marino 2006, personal communication.
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