NO-4

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Inscription
Transliteration:	a?(?)l?a[
Original script:	]?(?)?
Object:	NO-4 antler (antler)
Position:	outside
Script:	unknown
Direction of writing:	sinistroverse
Letter height:	2.22.2 cm <br /> – 2.5 cm
Number of letters:	5
Number of lines:	1
Craftsmanship:	engraved
Current condition:	damaged, fragmentary
Archaeological culture:	Late Iron Age [from object]
Date of inscription:	5th–1st centuries BC [from object]
Date derived from:	archaeological context, cultural context [from object]
Language:	unknown
Meaning:	unknown
Alternative sigla:	PID 211 IR 2 LIR ME-2
Sources:	Schumacher 2004: 151

Images

Object NO-4 antler with inscription NO-4.

Commentary

First published in Pauli 1888: 143 f. Autopsied by TIR in October 2014.

Images in Pauli 1888: Tav. II,3 (drawing), Mayr 1957: Abb. 3 (photo), IR (photo tav. XXXVc = LIR) and LIR (drawing).

Length of the remains 6.3 cm. Inscribed along an antler handle, starting at the outer end. The lines are faint, the reading is disturbed by discolourations. is clear, being comparatively deeply carved; equally, the last preserved letter is definitely . The assortment of lines between the two Alphas, originally arranged into two Latin Nus by Pauli, was read uil·p by Mancini. The chevron following is clear, the following it is not: The left hasta of the chevron is crossed on top by three short parallel lines, which look unintentional, but align with an only slightly more pronounced line to the left of the chevron – possibly only a discolouration. is faint, but unambiguous; the element interpreted as a punctuation mark is most probably unintentional. Next, a hasta, from whose top a bar seems to extend, but no indentation can be felt – instead of is possible. Compare, however, ]ilp[ on what was probably also an antler handle from Sanzeno (SZ-23). Note also that aulia(?) may be read on NO-9, if the lines are not merely decorative. A short scratch , which does not converge with the other two, is situated right in the centre of – maybe (cp. LIR)? A crooked oblique line , which might either be part of a particularly ramshackle letter or an unintentional scratch, is visible between and the breaking edge. Pseudo-script cannot be excluded.

Further references: NRIE 89, Battisti 1936b: 595 f., Battisti 1944: 234, Franz 1957: 109, Mayr 1957: 231, Tibiletti Bruno 1978: 221.

Bibliography

Battisti 1936b	Carlo Battisti, "Rassegna critica degli studi linguistici sull'Alto Adige nel quinquennio 1931-36", Archivio per l'Alto Adige 31/2 (1936), 561–611.
Battisti 1944	Carlo Battisti, "Osservazioni sulla lingua delle iscrizioni nell'alfabeto etrusco settentrionale di Bolzano", Studi Etruschi 18 (1944), 199–236.
Franz 1957	Leonhard Franz, "Südtiroler Reitia-Inschriften", Der Schlern 31 (1957), 105–109.
IR	Alberto Mancini, "Iscrizioni retiche", Studi Etruschi 43 (1975), 249–306.
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)
Mayr 1957	Karl M. Mayr, "Hirschhornvotive mit rätischen Inschriften aus Meclo (Mechel) am Nonsberg", Der Schlern 31 (1957), 230–231.