“PC sarcophagus” fragments. A large number of fragments (about 100) of an Asiatic sarcophagus were found in the Pactolus bed near the sector PC, in the summers of 1959 and 1960. The architectural fragments are identical with those on the celebrated sarcophagus of Claudia Antonia Sabina (Cat. 243 Fig. 422) and must have been made in the same workshop. Numerous fragments of hands, legs and drapery were found, as well as a few head fragments. Of special note are two beautiful pieces, the portrait head of a young woman and the head of a horse from the couch on the lid. These, as well as some architectural fragments, are described below (Cat. 180, Cat. 181, Cat. 182 and Cat. 183 Figs. 328-332).

The portrait shows a young lady whose head is covered with a mantle. The cloth hangs down loosely on both sides until the break: it is a few cms. longer on her l. side than her r. The mantle is only roughly carved at the back, so that the chisel marks still remain. Three puntellae are visible at the back. There is a single deep fold on either side, near the front of the cloth.

The lady’s face is idealized, with smooth rounded chin, small but full mouth, and soft eyes looking into the distance. The pupils are drilled, the irises incised; the gaze is slightly upward. There is a heavy upper lid and a sharply defined brow. The entire surface of the face has been carefully smoothed. Her hair, parted in the middle, flows out toward the sides in long loose waves. One curl has escaped and lies against her r. cheek. The fullness of the hair helps to accentuate the soft rounded forms of the face. The head is turned to her l., but the lower portion of the neck indicates that the body was facing frontwards.

Although the precise findspot is uncertain, the head was brought to the excavation camp together with numerous fragments of an Asiatic sarcophagus. All evidence points to the fact that we have here the portrait of a lady who stood on one of the sides of the sarcophagus, under one of the arches, or between two of them. A lady in similar garb, and in a similar pose, stands on the side of the Sardian sarcophagus of Claudia Antonia Sabina (Cat. 243 Fig. 422). Another lady in similar dress, but less idealized and with a hairdo later in style, can be found on a sarcophagus dated about 200 (Lawrence, Asiatic Sarcophagi, 125ff., fig. 11). The hairstyle is Antonine; this, together with the fragments of the sarcophagus, points to a date in the latter half of the 2nd C. A.D.

Marble.

Head broken off diagonally at back of mantle and at base of neck. Plaster has been filled in at the break for mounting purposes. The tip of the nose missing, and the rest of the nose battered.