Provenance of the Roman marble sarcophagi of the San Pietro in Bevagna Wreck

In the sea off San Pietro in Bevagna, 50km SE of Taranto (Southern Italy), the wreck of a Roman ship carrying a cargo of marble sarcophagi dated to the 3 rd century AD was found. It lies on the bottom in 3 to 6 m of water, 70 m off the beach and the Chidro river mouth. The twenty white marble sarcophagi are unfinished artefacts varying in size. Ten are rectangular in shape; the others are of the lenos type, with rounded ends and projecting bosses that could be carved into busts or lion heads. Both types of sarcophagi are ttested in the Roman imperial age. A mineralogical-petrographical study was performed on samples taken from both types and the δC13 and δO18 isotopes were determined. The analytical data established that both types of sarcophagi are of dolomitic marble from the Thasian quarries of Cape Vathy-Saliara