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had on board also a mortarium, two louteria, and an uninscribed grave stone made of
Proconnesian marble. 153
While the number of blocks still visible in the quarries of Docimium is unknown
and has yet to be cataloged, 154 20 blocks of pavonazzetto from the Fiumicino canal are
quite similar, both in shape and dimensions, to those from the Punta Scifo A
shipwreck. 155 The first feature shared by the pavonazzetto blocks from Fiumicino and
Punta Scifo A is their stepped surface. Because the Docimium quarries were located
approximately 400 km from the sea, and transport over land affected considerably the
final cost of the exports, it was necessary to reduce the overall weight as much as
possible. It is likely, therefore, that the Docimian blocks were sawn into slabs of
revetment for floors and walls, reducing the weight as much as possible during
transportation. 156
An unspecified number of “little lead plates with handles” measuring 165 x 42
mm were also found in “almost all of the marble blocks” recovered from Punta Scifo A in
1915. 157 These were drawn on a separate sheets of paper filed with the report of June 21,
1915, but were not visible in 2005-2006. 158 If it were possible to locate the 14 tables that
accompanied Claudio Riva’s report, of which only the text is available in Appendix 2,
much more information could be obtained regarding the discoveries that took place in the
early 20 th century.
153 Carlson 2006, 7. Identification of the marble: Carlson 2008, personal communication.
154 Waelkens 1987, 114-5.
155 Fant 2001, 168; Pensabene 2002a, 27.
156 Baccini Leotardi 1979, 36-7; Pensabene 1994, 19-22; Pensabene 2002a, 27-9.
157 Orsi 1921, 494.
158 Original report, June 21, 1915. (See Appendix 2 for the Italian text and English translation).
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