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The Most Diagnostic Marble Basins: LAB 2, LAB 3, and LAB 4
Since a complete description of all basins appears in the artifact catalog at the end
of this study, only the three best-preserved and most diagnostic labra will be discussed
here. LAB 2 and LAB 3, currently located on either side of the entrance to Croton’s
Archaeological Museum, were raised in 1909 and are described in P. Orsi’s 1911
article. 162
Their dimensions are similar (7 ½ and 8 R. ft in diameter, 3 ½ R. ft high), both are
made of pavonazzetto marble, and have eight rectangular bosses beneath a flat, projecting
rim. The bosses were probably left in place to reinforce the rim during transportat and
also to facilitate loading and unloading. Ultimately, these bosses would have been
removed or worked into decorative shapes, as in a complete example from Delos
(Fig. 33).
A close examination of LAB 2 and LAB 3 reveals that their rims were destined to
be rounded outward as was done for the smaller LAB 4. A small section of each rim had
been partially rounded off at the quarry, probably to provide a guide for the workshop to
follow upon delivery (Fig. 34). LAB 4 is the smallest labrum among those found at Punta
Scifo A, only 3 ½ R. ft in diameter and 1 ¾ R. ft tall. It is also the most-polished and
complete in the group. The rim is finished, with only six bosses preserved beneath it: two
of the original eight are missing due to breakage of part of the basin’s bowl. Perhaps this
small labrum was intended to serve as a template for finishing the remaining items. The
same may be true for those pedestals with lions’ paws; only one of these is completely
finished (HPL 3), while the others are roughly-worked.
162 Orsi 1911, 118-24.
112