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One characteristic that sets Proconnesian production apart from other centers like
Docimium and Carystos is the almost total lack of inscriptions. Only five quarry-marks
have been recorded, compared with ca. 350 inscriptions found at Docimium. 306
Fig. 49: (a) To the left a typical Proconnesian sarcophagus with garlands, imported to
Rome in a half-finished state; its decoration was never completed. (Museo
Nazionale Romano) (b) To the right fragments of a sarcophagus with garlands, of probable
Proconnesian origin, from the sea off Capo Piccolo Combined length: 1.95 m; height: 1.18
m. (Photos: D. Bartoli).
Considering that only the most expensive, colored marbles (Docimian, africano, giallo
antico, cipollino, portasanta) and the white marbles of Paros were marked, Pensabene
suggests that such expensive marbles were inventoried because they represented a fiscal
reserve of the state, while the others were left unmarked. 307
173
According to Dodge’s distribution study, those cities in the western Mediterranean
where Proconnesian blocks are documented include Rome and Ostia, Carthage, Lepcis
306 Asgari 1990, 108.
307 Pensabene 2002a, 19.