They were described as "portions of mummy portraits from the Fayoum Egypt" on page 573 of the second volume in Pitt Rivers' ...
Excavating a vast cemetery from the first and second centuries A.D., when imperial Rome ruled Egypt, he found scores of exquisite portraits executed on wood panels by anonymous artists ...
New Greek and Roman archaeological discoveries including a funerary building, portraits, mummies, and statues were made in Fayoum, Egypt.