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to Tarentum. After locating these artifacts, I recorded their dimensions, and the data
have become part of a new, comprehensive catalog presented in Appendix 1. The
original documents from the archives are transcribed in Appendix 2, and relevant Greek
and Latin sources in Appendix 3.
Since the site had already been disturbed and much archaeological evidence was
in danger of being permanently lost, I chose to focus my research on the Punta Scifo A
wreck site. I thought it necessary to preserve as much data as possible, reorganize them,
and try to reconstruct the ship and its cargo as they were at the time of sinking. In doing
so, I have analyzed the physical settings of Croton in order to understand what kind of
natural factors might have caused these five ships to be lost along this coastline, and why
Croton’s harbor represented an important resting point for ancient ships and sailors. A
general review of the four other marble sites from Croton, the Roman Imperial system of
organized quarry exploitation, along with the seaborne transportation of heavy elements
and various parallels are also presented. Appendix 4 is dedicated to Diocletian’s Edict
on Maximum Prices, which provides the cost of 19 marble varieties in A.D. 301, and
Appendix 5 describes the inscriptions found on many ancient quarried items.
Time and funding in 2005 and 2006 allowed only initial, cursory work at Croton.
It is important, however, to analyze the data collected to develop more informed
hypotheses and questions to guide further research. Punta Scifo A represents one of the
most luxurious marble cargoes ever found in the Mediterranean.
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