WE-3 antler

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Object
Classification:	handle
Material:	antler
Size:	length: 10.5 cm, width: 2.3 cm, height: 1.9 cm
Condition:	damaged
Date:	4th–3rd centuries BC
Date derived from:	unknown
Site:	Brixen / Bressanone (Bozen / Bolzano, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy)
Field name:	Stufels
Coordinates (approx.):	46° 43' 1.20" N, 11° 39' 28.80" E [from site]
Find date:	01.04.1981
Find circumstances:	excavation
Current location:	Amt für Bodendenkmäler Bozen / Ufficio Beni archeologici Bolzano (repository)
Inventory Nr.:	St. 6992
Inscription:	WE-3 (lastasieluku/piθamnuale)
Sources:	Dal Rì 1987: 178 (No. 731), fig. 305 Nothdurfter 2002: 1147 (list 2, No. 2), fig. 1,7 Tecchiati et al. 2011: 53, fig. 35–37, fig. 38

Images

Object WE-3 antler with inscription WE-3 - line 2.

Object WE-3 antler with inscription WE-3 - line 1.

Object WE-3 antler.

Commentary

Antler fragment. Antler of a deer (Cervus elaphus).
Most likely the handle of a key or another implement (see below).
From withish to beige in colour. The entire antler is slightly curved. Almost circular cross section; concaved side abraded as well as smoothed, convex side not worked, therefore rough and the spongiosa structure visible. Both ends cut away intentionally. On one side slivered broken. The dimensions of the object indicated above are given by Dal Rì (cp. Dal Rì 1987: 178).
Along, on two sides almost regular decorations in the form of four oblique strokes, once from bottom left to top right, in other case from top left to bottom right, divided by a vertical stroke.
Likewise laterally an inscription in two lines and boustrophedon writing where however the lines do not run straightly.
The object was discovered during an excavation in Stufels on 1st april 1981. According to the finds list No. 347 the antler fragment was found in sector E1, stratum LF F/B, section I. The fragment was recorded with the finds number 3853 and inventoried with number 6992.
Morandi proposes with insecurity an age determination to the timeframe from the 4th to 3rd centuries BC however without giving reasons (cp. Tecchiati et al. 2011: 53).
Due to the fact that the antler is concave an interpretation as handle of a metallic implement or a key seems to be reasonable (cp. Dal Rì 1987: 178; Nothdurfter 2002: 1147; Tecchiati et al. 2011: 53). Comparable objects in the present database are e.g. SZ-22 handle, SZ-23 handle or SZ-32 handle. Based on the appearance of the Raetic word eluku as part of the inscription and the meaning of Raetic eluku which probably can be translated with sacrifice or the like the antler handle has also a votive character (cp. for the meaning of Raetic eluku: Rix 1998: 36–38 and in consequence Schumacher 2004: 299).
Earlier publications, like Dal Rì 1987: 178, Schumacher 2004: 189 or Morandi 1999: 52, indicate the Landesmuseum Schloss Tirol / Museo Storico di Castel Tirolo as repository. Whereas later Morandi states the Museo Archeologico dell'Alto Adige in Bozen / Bolzano as depository (cp. Tecchiati et al. 2011: 53). However, the study and autopsy by the team of the Thesaurus Inscriptionum Raeticarum have shown that the handle is kept neither at the Landesmuseum Schloss Tirol / Museo Storico di Castel Tirolo nor at the Museo Archeologico dell'Alto Adige in Bozen / Bolzano. The object is now preserved in the Amt für Bodendenkmäler Bozen / Ufficio Beni archeologici Bolzano, but the inventory number is still valid.
Autopsied by the Thesaurus Inscriptionum Raeticarum in November 2014.
S.K.

S.K.

Bibliography

Dal Rì 1987	Lorenzo Dal Rì, "Influssi etrusco-italici nella regione retico-alpina", in: Raffaele De Marinis (Ed.), Gli Etruschi a nord del Po, Mantova: Regione Lombardia - Provincia e Comune di Mantova 1987, 160–179.