VN-3

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Inscription
Transliteration:	]umep̣[
Original script:	][
Variant Reading:	]umeθ̣[ ][
Object:	VN-3 bone (bone)
Position:	front
Script:	North Italic script
Direction of writing:	sinistroverse
Letter height:	1.11.1 cm <br /> – 1.6 cm
Number of letters:	4
Number of lines:	1
Craftsmanship:	engraved
Current condition:	damaged, fragmentary
Date of inscription:	3rd–1st centuries BC [from object]
Date derived from:	archaeological context [from object]
Language:	unknown
Meaning:	unknown
Alternative sigla:	LIR BZ-24 TM 218521
Sources:	Schumacher 2004: 177, 208 f.

Images

Object VN-3 bone with inscription VN-3.

Commentary

First published in Schumacher 1992: 177, 208 f. Autopsied by TIR in September 2014.

Image in Schumacher 2004: Taf. 3,2 (drawing = LIR).

Length of the remains 4.1 cm. The letters are well legible despite the condition of the object, because the lines are deeply (sometimes repeatedly) scratched. The distance between the breaking edge before and the letter allows for more characters to have preceded it. The only problematic letter is the last, which has been read by Schumacher, but is more likely a clumsily executed , as in the otherwise identical fragment VN-2. The crossing point of the two lines is decidedly above the centre, and the alleged bar does not reach the bottom. After this last letter, the breaking edge is straight, possibly indicating a break along a hasta (esp. in the lower part).

Bibliography

LIR	Alberto Mancini, Le Iscrizioni Retiche [= Quaderni del dipartimento di linguistica, Università degli studi di Firenze Studi 8–9], Padova: Unipress 2009–10. (2 volumes)