Various dates have been suggested for the statue, ranging from about 160 to about 20 BC. Inscriptions found at Lindos in Rhodes date Agesander and Athenedoros to a period after 42 BC, making the years 42 to 20 the most likely date for the Laocoön statue's creation. It is not known whether it is an original work or a copy of an earlier sculpture. Interestingly, the figure of Alcyoneus on the Pergamon Altar (dated ca 180-160 BC) is shown in a pose and situation (including serpents) which is very similar to those of Laocoön in the sculpture group. It has been suggested that the three Rhodians were copyists, possibly of a bronze sculpture from Pergamon, created around 200 BC.[4] Pliny in his Natural History (XXXVI, 37) states that it was located in the palace of the emperor Titus. He also asserts that it was carved from a single piece of marble, though when found it was discovered to comprise seven interlocking pieces.[5][6]
A frontal view of the sculpture with a pre-20th