AV-1

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Inscription
Transliteration:	tịp̣ṛuχ̣ṇuḷạṿịṣẹz§̣
Original script:	A23 s
Variant Reading:	tịp̣ṛuχ̣ṇuḷạṿịṣẹ§̣
Object:	AV-1 ring (silver)
Position:	outside
Script:	Camunic script
Direction of writing:	sinistroverse
Number of lines:	1
Craftsmanship:	engraved
Current condition:	complete, damaged
Archaeological culture:	Hallstatt D [from object]
Date of inscription:	5th century BC [from object]
Date derived from:	archaeological context [from object]
Language:	Raetic
Meaning:	'X of Lavise' / 'the son of Tipruχnu, Lavise' (?)
Alternative sigla:	none
Sources:	Schumacher 2004: 328

Images

Object AV-1 ring with inscription AV-1.

Object AV-1 ring with inscription AV-1.

Object AV-1 ring with inscripion AV-1.

Object AV-1 ring with inscription AV-1 - unrolled view by digital post processing / photomontage.

Commentary

First published in Ziegaus & Rix 1998: 297–303.

Pictures in Ziegaus & Rix 1998: Abb. 1,3c (photo) and d, e (drawings = Schumacher 2004: Taf. 15,2).

Engraved, probably with an etcher's needle, all around the outside of the ring. The smallness of the surface available can be made responsible for the irregularities in the execution of the characters, if they are indeed such – our reading follows that of Rix in the original publication, who argues that, apart from the sequence of straight strokes and zig-zag-line, the engraving is not regular or symmetrical enough to be merely decorative (p. 298). He suggests that due to the lack of space vertically, the writer expanded the characters in breadth, leading to some unusual shapes (p. 300 f.).

Rix discerns the following letters (sigla refer to Mancini 1980):

• St. Andrew's-cross as in Sc 4, Lu 2, Lu 3, Lu 4 and Lu 7; arguably writing a dental, though the relation to is unclear.
• "a tratto ortogonale" as in Sc 6 and Na 16, with the bar pointing in writing direction in Na 19, Se 1, Se 2, and apparently on BS·22. The squiggle on the right must then be a writer's mistake.
• Greek-style , which in the Val Camonica occurs exclusively as upside-down (Sc 8, Na 5, Na 6, Na 8, Be 1, FN 14, FN 16).
• , a standard Val Camonica shape, stretched out and carved with a rectangular body to avoid the execution of a curve.
• , as predominant in the Val Camonica.
• as occurring in Sc 6 and BS·22 in contrast to more usual .
• A contorted -shape; Rix suspects that the small upper bar is a correction of the lower one. The standard shape in the Val Camonica is .
• , as above.
• as in Sc 1; the standard shape in the Val Camonica is . Although the bar extends very far beyond the hasta, Rix counts out because of the presence of .
• A23 s with the bar not touching the angle, inclined to the left. While inverted forms are prevalent in the Val Camonica (usually congruent with the orientation of the character for u), the short bar, pace Rix, is usually attached to one of the hastae.
• , which does not appear in the Sondrino alphabet, where the glide is written with the character for the vowel.
• as above.
• with pointed angles, probably due to lack of space vertically. The letter does not occur in the Val Camonica, where s is written with Zeta, but with the upper angle opened in writing direction occurs on the Sondrino stone from Montagna (PID 252), against writing direction on BS·22; occurs on the Sondrino stone from Tresivio (PID 253) and on the Castaneda flagon, both times opened in writing direction.
• written without a hasta – no parallels in any of the Transpadanian inscriptions.
• with straight bars as opposed to the standard Sondrino form (orientation usually congruent with that of the letters for a and u).

The group of vertical and oblique scratches left of Rix interprets as a line filler. Referring to the tentative dating of the object inferred from context, he concludes that the inscription is written in a Sondrino "Uralphabet" which still shows some archaic letters / letter forms (, , ) that are more similar to those of Venetic/Etruscan script than the later standard Sondrino shapes.

If Rix' reading is correct, the Raetic individual name Lavise stands out quite clearly. If the first -shape belongs to the inscription, the name appears in the genitive case, the -s being written with Zeta in opposition to -s- in the name. The sequence tipruχnu seems to end in the patronymic suffix -nu. Rix observes that patronymics usually follow the individual name, and that concord with the case of the individual name should be expected, and therefore prefers to interpret tipruχnu as a noun denoting the object: 'X of Lavise'. A reading including the first after tipruχnu lavise-si in the pertinentive with only the individual name being marked (see Schumacher 1998: 109 f., 112) is unlikely because i is written twice in the inscription (compare, however, BS·22 with both forms). A two-part name in the nominative tipruχnu lavise, with the first -shape considered part of the line filler, should not be excluded despite the unusual order.

Bibliography

Mancini 1980	Alberto Mancini, "Le iscrizioni della Valcamonica. Parte 1: Status della questione. Criteri per un'edizione dei materiali", Studi Urbinati di storia, filosofia e letteratura Supplemento linguistico 2 (1990), 75–167.