Raetic epigraphy

Inscription overview by find place

For some clarifications concerning the geography of the Raetic area and terminology see here.

Starting in the South-East of the Raetic area, two isolated finds come from areas closer to the Venetic sphere.

• Castelcies: Built into a church wall at the foot of the Alps by the Piave valley, the stone opistograph appears to be of local manufacture. The North Italic inscription is filed as written in the Magrè alphabet, with Raetic Mu and Alpha, but →. Linguistically, not indubitably Raetic.

• Padova: The inscription on the Paletta di Padova is lengthy and definitely linguistically Raetic. It does, however, display some unusual features which may be ascribed to the high dating of the object or the Venetic context of its manufacturing.

The southernmost area of agglomeration of Raetic inscriptions is Verona and its environs east of the river Adige / Etsch. Note that no linguistically Raetic testimonies come from the area right of the river, just as no definably Lepontic material is known from the left side.

• East of Verona: From Montorio, two small bones, one with maybe an individual name, one with marks. Also, an antler grip plate with an epigraphically peculiar inscription (containing in combination with Venetoid letter forms). All the pieces are vaguely Raetoid (support, characters, content), though none can be definitely connected to the Raetic sphere. An inscribed potsherd may belong in a Roman context, cp. the two potsherds with a Latin inscription from the same find spot. Two unusually shaped (and unusually large) antler pieces come from San Briccio. VR-1 is conspicuous for the occurrence of Raetic , while VR-2 may contain the word þinaχe, noticeably spelled with Zeta (see below).

• North of Verona: A substantial inscription find in a building in San Giorgio di Valpolicella yields documents whose epigraphical status is somewhat dubious. While VR-12 (on a bone) could be classified as epigraphically Raetic (with Venetoid = Magrè-style Lambda and Pi, and Raetic ), VR-17 (on a bone point) has Mu with four bars, unknown in Raetic. VR-12 is also the only inscription with "standard" Alpha, all the others having (with the bar not touching the hastae). VR-13 and VR-14 (on bones) both have , which is read Lambda in the TIR, but might qualify as Lepontic Pi (esp. in combination with in VR-14, though this is highly doubtful). Both the slightly longer inscriptions on bronze fittings (?) contain Venetic/Magrè and can be determined to have linguistically Raetic content. But while the dental affricate is written with Tau in VR-10 – an expectable compromise spelling in the absence of a special character – VR-11 has Zeta, which points towards Lepontic or even Etruscan influence. The (to varying extent) shortened form þinaχe connects the two bronze pieces with the inscription on a bone from Castelrotto, and possibly also with the abovementioned antler piece from San Briccio, both of which – provided that the interpretation is correct – also have Zeta for the dental affricate. Syllabic punctuation is employed in two, possibly three of the inscriptions on bone, and also, in a rather curious fashion, on the bronze objects and in Castelrotto. In all cases but one, the puncts take the form of a short vertical at the bottom of the line. It may be observed that San appears comparatively frequently, while Sigma is notably absent – maybe a North Etruscan feature?

• Trissino: From the only find place in the Agno valley, 36 bones, among them four with inscriptions. Two of these (TR-1.1, TR-3) lend themselves to some extent to interpretation as Raetic words (names?); the other two (TR-2, TR-4) display similarities in the characters used (including punctuation marks) and are obscure. All four are filed as being written in the Magrè alphabet (, , (?)). Unlike the Ganglegg bones, those from Trissino are not perforated; only one bears an additional mark on the back.

• Magrè: 21 pieces of antler found together on (probably) a site of burnt offerings; all of them bear linguistically usable inscriptions. Individual testimonies share a number of characteristics with others: Almost all antlers have marks on the back; they all have (or may have had) drilled holes at one end. Five pieces are only partly cut in half, with the entire tip of the antler preserved. Only one is decorated with ornamental lines at both ends. Dextroverse writing is comparatively frequent (8 dextroverse vs 10 sinistroverse), and in at least two inscriptions the writing direction appears to have changed during the application when the writer turned the object in their hand. Maybe connected with this lax attitude towards direction, the letters Alpha and Epsilon (once even Upsilon) are frequently inverted. The Magrè special character appears in six inscriptions, writing either þinaχe or -þu (and once piþie by mistake). The obscure ending (?) -þu, exclusive to Magrè, occurs thrice. þinaχe occurs in four inscriptions, always with a (clear or potential) name and three times with a third, opaque element. Five inscriptions contain clear unmarked name formulae. Some inscriptions seem to be associated with each other, e.g. the recurrence of the names piθie and piθam(n)e, and of the (name?) elements esθua(-) and val-. However, no clear groups emerge; it is hard to determine how homogenic the Magrè corpus really is. At least, the alphabet – apart from inverted Upsilon in MA-6 – is consistently that which is named after the site. MA-24 is a non-inscription on a lead ingot.

• Piovene Rocchette: A single inscribed potsherd from the place where the Astico valley first opens into the Padan plain, some 10 km northwest of Magrè. The four-letter inscription contains Phi and Khi, and cannot be securely ascribed to the Raetic corpus on either epigraphical or linguistical grounds.

• Bostel: The settlement near Rotzo in the western Altopiano di Asiago, above the Adige valley, has been yielding inscribed objects, mostly pottery, since the 1880ies. All but one of the finds from before 1920 (AS-1–AS-13) are currently untraceable and probably destroyed, which makes an evaluation of the corpus difficult. However, the more recent finds (AS-15–AS-23) fit in well with the descriptions of the older material, and corroborate Whatmough's decision to ascribe the latter to the Raetic corpus. Two repeatedly occurring sequences of characters on ceramic beakers ( and ) probably represent workmen's marks. They are usually inscribed on the narrow bottom of the vessel, with the tops of the letters pointing towards the foot, sometimes also on the foot or the wall, and usually written repeatedly on the same object. In AS-15, AS-19 and probably AS-2, these marks appear in combination with language-encoding inscriptions. The well attested Raetic individual name piθamne occurs twice. A complex mark inscribed twice on AS-16 beaker seems to connect the writing on pottery with the two "bone needles" (maybe Ganglegg-style bone points?) AS-12 needle and AS-13 needle bearing one mark each. Half of the proper inscriptions and the mark are written dextroverse. The alphabet used is Venetoid (, ), but Lambda, occurring only once, has Sanzeno-shape (in combination with both Venetoid Pi and Upsilon). Alpha, Sigma and Mu appear in their typically Raetic shapes.

• Montesei di Serso: From the meeting point of Valsugana and Valle dei Mòcheni / Fersental; twelve pieces of antler. Found together in a house and bearing Raetic inscriptions at least partly similar in form and content, they can be compared to the Magrè finds. While there is no evidence for a burnt-offerings site, Marzatico 2001b: 505 suggests that the size and two entrances of house 2 indicate a sanctuary. The inscriptions are written in the Magrè alphabet; only SR-2 has , not accompanied by Pi or Lambda, but ← and – apparently – syllabic punctuation. ← and ← both occur (4:7), though never in the same text; equally, Sigma is turned in both directions (in about equal distribution), once in the same inscription. Both Magrè-Heta and Khi (, ) appear twice. is the only letter for a dental employed in Serso; Tau, Zeta and the special character are absent. Pi occurs only once, accompanied by traditionally shaped Phi , which is also found in the deviant SR-2 (). Three of the other inscriptions contain the word perisna written with in the anlaut, on which see T. Seven of the twelve inscriptions feature some sort of punctuation, three of those have punctuated letters, which is singular in Raetic context (more on punctuation below). In addition to the antler pieces, three objects with non-inscriptions from the site are included in the TIR.

The valley of the Avisio river / Laifserbach, reaching the Adige valley at Trento from the Northeast, yields two unassociated inscriptions.

• Caslir: An old finding, the Situla Giovanelli with its five sequences of letters remains the only inscribed object from the Val di Cembra / Zimmerstal (the lower course of the river). While some of the sequences may belong together, they cannot all be regarded as part of only one inscription. The alphabet, however, is consistently that of Sanzeno (exclusively ←, ←, ←, ←), with the exception of Pi, which occurs only once, appearing as ←. See P for details.

• Tesero: From the Val di Fiemme / Fleimstal (the central part of the valley), an unusual inscription, which seems to contain a theonym of Celtic origin. The antler handle, however, is a typical support for Raetic inscriptions. Due to the many inverted and retrograde letters, an ascription to any specific alphabet is not possible.

The centre of Raetic writing, at least as far as the number of inscriptions is concerned, is situated between Trento and Meran / Merano. Inscription finds were made in the Val di Non, in the higher land between the Non and Adige valleys (Überetsch), as well as along the latter (Unterland, Burggrafenamt, and also further up the river in the Vinschgau).

• Sanzeno: The most notable find group, the fifteen zoomorphic bronzes, were found together in a sand pit in the settlement in the locality Casalini. There is no evidence for a sanctuary, e.g. a larger building or a site of burnt offerings, but the bronzes clearly testify to ritual practice. They are executed in half-plastic, i.e. cast in an open mould, and have holes drilled into them – apparently they were attached to a wall or similar vertical structure. The animals depicted are mostly horses, more or less abstraced, sometimes with riders, as well as fish and a couple of unidentifiable creatures. (The dolphin does not fit in with the others in both style and the fact that it does not seem to bear an inscription. The latter is also the case for three of the horse-shaped bronzes, but the overall execution is in line with the local style.) We do not know whether all the bronzes which have come down to us are from the same time, but they and also the inscriptions they bear are noticeably similar. It is highly likely that the bronzes are of local manufacture and were bought in situ by the dedicants, much like one can purchase pictures of saints at pilgrimage churches today. In fact, it is not impossible that the inscriptions were made upon request by local scribes rather than the dedicants themselves. The texts consist mainly in full names in the nominative; sometimes up to three persons are named on one object, and some of them can be demonstrated to be related – for example Remi, Visteχa's son, and his (presumably) wife Φrima in SZ-2.1. Not all of the inscriptions are transparent, though; quite a few contain elements which cannot at this point be analysed. Many objects feature additional marks of different complexity – workman's marks, or possibly even price tags? In addition to the half-plastic bronzes, definitely language-encoding sequences are inscribed on the statuette of a warrior, on two bronze rods (SZ-87, SZ-96), a simpulum and a key. Of greatest importance is the fragmentary votive inscription on the Sanzeno situla. The remainder of the inscribed bronze objects (vessels, simpula, a bronze, a statuette) bears mostly 3–4 character inscriptions, some of which might be linguistically relevant (names?). Equally, on organic material, only one linguistically usable inscription on a grip plate, and again various obscure shortish sequences on antler objects, two bones and one tusk. A fair amount of the iron implements found in Sanzeno is inscribed, with a few inscriptions occurring repeatedly, suggesting factory marks (see upi, sχsi, þine, la, iai, uθiiθi). Also, possibly a Latin inscription on an iron knife, and two inscriptions which may have been more substantial on a helmet. Finally, some pottery bearing more or less well legible scratchings – more workman's marks?

• Val di Non (other sites): Most of the other find places of inscriptions in the basin come from the northern part around the Lago di Santa Giustina. The only outlier is the more southerly Dercolo, from whence come an inscribed horse bronze (part of a ritual deposit) and two unassociated bowls with non-inscriptions. From Mechel / Meclo we have the miniature shield bearing an exemplary dedication formula, as well as a (fragmentary?) inscription on the fragment of another votive plaque. Of two rims of bronze vessels, one bears an inscription, the other one only a mark. In addition, two antler pieces (one with a usable, one with a doubtful inscription), as well as a potsherd, and a fibula with what are probably ornamental marks. Five linguistically usable inscriptions, on bronze objects and one bone point, come from Cles; one of them repeats part of the inscription on the Warrior of Sanzeno. From Revò, a single astragalos with an inscription which appears to be associated with the Serso corpus. From Tavòn, a stone slab with obscure inscription. Also from somewhere in the Val di Non comes a potsherd with an inscription or mark resembling finds from the Piperbühel and Mellaun / Meluno.

• Bozen / Bolzano area: The Etsch valley between Salurn / Salorno and Meran / Merano and the immediately adjoining mountainous areas yield a fair number of inscribed objects. Apart from the alphabet used, which is exclusively that of Sanzeno (where identifiable), the object and inscription types are highly varied. While many finds come from well researched archaeological contexts (e.g. the settlement and grave field of Pfatten / Vadena/Stadlhof), no homogenous group finds of inscriptions have so far been made in the area. The only arguable exception is the helmet hoard found on the Kosman property in the highlands north of the Bozen basin (inscriptions BZ-26 to BZ-29 on fragments of helmets). Of five inscriptions from Überetsch, i.e. the highlands west of the Etsch, two (BZ-14, BZ-24) are linguistically relevant. The latter is the only Raetic inscription containing the letter Omicron, and our only testimony indicating a process of latinisation. The site of Kaltern / Caldaro, representing the South of Überetsch, is not actually relevant, as the only find is dated to the Hallstatt era and is not associated with Raetic writing or even para-writing. The Unterland (Pfatten / Vadena) yields four minor inscriptions and the stela BZ-10 slab. Four inscriptions on bronze vessels come from Moritzing / San Maurizio in the Bozen basin. Two of them are merely marks, but one is the substantial BZ-4. Following the Etsch upwards (the Burggrafenamt is, roughly speaking, the Etsch valley between Bozen / Bolzano and Meran / Merano), a number of highly varied inscriptions on different kinds of objects. From the area of Siebeneich / Settequerce, one dubious inscription, as well as another inscribed slab and BZ-3 on a simpulum. The only proper inscription from further north is BZ-2 on a bronze axe from St. Christoph. Besides that, only four objects with marks from the settlement of St. Hippolyt / Sant'Ippolito, as well as two dubious inscriptions on potsherds from the Hochbühel near Meran / Merano.

• Vinschgau: A considerable number of bone objects has been found on the Ganglegg settlement site, some of them inscribed with marks of varying complexity. Eighteen of them – perforated bones, bone points and handles (?) – are included in the TIR; of these, about twelve bear characters which may be considered letters. The legible inscriptions contain Raetic individual names, some of them recurring, often systematically combined with additional characters of unclear function. Some of the non- and dubious inscriptions also resemble each other. All in all, the small corpus is quite homogenous, but the function of objects and inscriptions is obscure. Where identifiable, the alphabet is consistently that of Sanzeno (, , ←, ←), but note ← on VN-2/VN-3. A single find comes from the older settlement on the Tartscher Bühel. The inscription on an antler grip plate is linguistically Raetic and, like the Ganglegg finds, written in the Sanzeno alphabet.

From Bozen / Bolzano, where the Eisack valley opens into the Adige valley, a trail of inscription finds leads north to the Brenner pass and over it to the Inn valley.

• Piperbühel: From the site near Klobenstein / Collalbo, not too far from Bozen, come three inscriptions on completely different objects, which do not appear to have anything in common beyond the find place. For the inscription on a slab see below (sub "Inscriptions on stones"); the lengthy text on a wooden rod is utterly mysterious. Both are written in the Sanzeno alphabet. The third is an inscriptoid on pottery which can be compared with finds from the Eisack and Non valleys (see the inscription page).

• Rungger Egg: Of the numerous potsherds with incised marks found on the site, only two bear characters which may be referred to as letters. The similarity might, however, well be fortuitious. No certain script material is known from the area.

• Eisack valley, Mellaun / Meluno: Four potsherds with marks, at least two – possibly all four – from the Reiferfelder. WE-6 and WE-7 can be compared with marks on ceramic fragments from elsewhere in the Raetic area. No secure testimonies of script from the site.

• Eisack valley, Stufels: Two objects with lengthy inscriptions. WE-3 on an isolated piece of antler (apparently originally an actual handle) is written in the Sanzeno alphabet. WE-4 is written in the Magrè alphabet; the support – a Roman-style olla – may be imported from the South.

• Puster valley: The eleven inscribed objects from the Puster valley, despite them all coming from the context of the Raetic settlement predating ancient Sebatum, are inhomogenic. The most important document by far is the Lothen girdle plate bearing a lengthy but obscure inscription with some epigraphical peculiarities. Three bones (currently untraceable) and three potsherds from the Steger hill bear short and obscure inscriptions. More interesting support-wise are two small inscribed stone objects, one with maybe a name. Additionally, two loom weights with dubious marks. Where it can be determined, the inscriptions are written in the Magrè alphabet.

• Wipp valley, Kronbühel / Custozza: Only a single inscribed potsherd from the upper Eisack valley. The characters of the fragmentary inscription may represent script, but cannot be ascribed to a specific alphabet.
• Wipp valley, Matrei am Brenner: The only find from the valley of the river Sill between the Brenner pass and the Inn valley, already fairly close to Innsbruck, where the Sill meets the Inn. An exemplary inscription written in the Magrè alphabet (/l/ = ).

Along the Inn valley, inscriptions have been found on numerous sites in North Tyrol. Only one find comes from the Engadin.

• Eastern Inn valley: The easternmost find spot is Pirchboden, from whence a singular object – probably a musical instrument – with a heavily damaged, but clearly Raetic inscription written in the Magrè alphabet. Only a few kilometers along the valley, but south of the river, the Himmelreich yields a great number of potsherds bearing marks. Of the three objects in the TIR, one belongs with this group, one bears characters of doubtful status. The third one is the only properly inscribed potsherd (of a Fritzener Schale) in the entire corpus, bearing a Raetic individual name, probably written in the Magrè alphabet. From the Demlfeld a little further west comes the only votive bronze plaque of the corpus; the substantial inscription is the only one from beyond the Brenner pass which is written in the Sanzeno alphabet.

• Western Inn valley: From Hörtenberg a round stone with a non-inscription which has parallels from elsewhere in the Raetic area, as well as a fragmentary inscription on a piece of iron fitting. The alphabet in the latter inscription is that of Magrè. In the very West, just beyond the confluence of Inn and Sanna, the Pillerhöhe yields – besides two bowls with non-inscriptions – an inscription on a ceramic handle, probably written in the Magrè alphabet. Note that IT-7 (Hörtenberg) and IT-8 (Pillerhöhe) both feature a noticeably small St. Andrew's cross (see Theta).

• Ardez: Only one piece of inscribed pottery from the upper Inn valley; the fragmentary inscription cannot be ascribed to any specific alphabet or even securely to the Raetic corpus.

• Northern Limestone Alps: Petrographs from the Raetic area and displaying linguistically Raetic features have been found (so far) only in the very North, i.e. in the Northern Limestone Alps. The Schneidjoch (ST, one rock) and the site of the Achenkirch inscriptions (AK, min. two rocks) are located close to each other in the Steinberg/Achensee region (Tyrol); the Unterammergau inscriptions (UG, min. three rocks) are found in Southern Bavaria. For a typology of the inscriptions, see below.

• Nußdorf: The norhernmost find (potentially) belonging at least partly to the Raetic corpus is a silver ring inscribed with a text which has been read as Raetic written in a variety of the Camunic script by Rix – see the inscription page for details.

Finally, from far beyond the Raetic area, two eastern stray finds:

• Slovenia: Two independent helmet finds. The Vače helmet, an old finding of dubious circumstances, bears a single inscription which associates it with the area of Serso (Magrè alphabet). The Negau helmet A, from a substantial hoard near Ženjak, bears four apparently unrelated inscriptions, of which up to three are written on the Sanzeno alphabet; the fourth is generally interpreted as a Celtic name written in a Venetic alphabet. On the cultural-historical context of these and similar inscribed helmets, see below.

Chronology

When talking about the dating of Raetic inscriptions, the usual caveats apply: Archaeological dating via excavation context and typology is sometimes uncertain, time frames of different extent make it hard to establish a chronology even where datings are available. Particularly in the Raetic corpus, we have a great number of old findings which cannot be dated, because their archaeological context has been lost. Moreover, the time of production or even use of an object does not necessarily determine the time when the inscription was applied. Dates for production or widespread use of objects give a terminus post quem; dates for graves and deposits give a terminus ante quem. (Cp. Schumacher 2004: 246, MLR: 10.) The following paragraphs give an overview of a chronology of Raetic inscriptions which is strictly based on the archaeological data as presented in the literature; for details and references please consult the object pages. The possibility of dating inscriptions based on palaeography will be examined in a second step.

The oldest object in the corpus is a bronze Hallstatt-age axe from Kaltern / Caldaro. Like many of its kind, it bears signs, but these are not Raetic characters; it is therefore best to regard BZ-17 as a non-inscription.

The oldest objects bearing Raetic inscriptions appear to be three of the more remarkable items in the Raetic corpus: the Situla in Providence, dated to the third quarter of the 6^th c. on the basis of typology, the Paletta di Padova, dated typologically to the 6^th–5^th c., and the Spada di Verona (dated by different scholars between the 6^th and the 4^th c.) The testimonies are similar insofar as the objects are atypical (the situla being by far the most elaborately decorated one in the Raetic corpus) and come from places to the South(-East) of the Raetic area proper (while the find spot of the situla is unknown, it is certainly of Southern, maybe Etruscan provenance) which have not yielded any other Raetic inscriptions. Padova most certainly was a Venetic site. The inscriptions themselves are comparatively long and linguistically indubitably Raetic.

Some of the abovementioned characteristics are shared by the Lothen girdle plate, dated typologically to the 5^th c. No other inscriptions are known from Lothen / Campolino itself either, but a number of inscriptions and inscriptoids come from the immediate vicinity of St. Lorenzen / San Lorenzo di Sebato, i.e. from the context of the Raetic settlement predating ancient Sebatum. Of these, PU-4, the only of the testimonies which definitely encodes language, is also dated to the 5^th c. by archaeological context; none of the other inscriptoids is is younger than the 4^th c.

A fifth peculiar and isolated object is the silver ring from Bavaria, bearing a Raetic inscription written in a Sondrio-style alphabet, which is very tentatively dated to the 5^th c. via context.

The oldest document from the Raetic core area appears to be NO-13 bone (Monte Ozol), dated on the basis of its archaeological context to the middle of the 6^th–middle of the 5^th c. (Perini 2002: 767). Also old is BZ-2 axe (Tisens / Tesimo), dated typologically to the 5^th c.

The oldest document from Sanzeno is SZ-16 on the warrior statuette, dated typologically to the second half of the 5^th c. (as is the other full-plastic statuette, with a non-inscription). The alphabet in evidence appears to be the standard Sanzeno alphabet as it continued to be used in the Nonsberg and the Upper Adige valley. The material from Sanzeno is generally dated to the Late Iron Age, i.e. the 5^th–1^st c. In regard to the high dating of the warrior statuette, the half-plastic votive bronzes are likely to be from the same time or not much younger. Gempeler 1976 and Dal Rì 1987 argue for the 4^th–3^rd c. (specifically for the horse bronzes SZ-9 bronze, SZ-14 bronze, HU-5 bronze and HU-6 bronze) with regard to Venetic and Etruscan influences. Gleirscher apud Schumacher 2004: 247 gives the 5^th–4^th c., with reference to the fact that that the rider of SZ-14 bronze is wearing a Negau helmet (cp. Egg 1986: 116f. for another depiction of a Negau helmet dated to around 400), and the similarity of SZ-3 bronze with NO-11 bronze (see below). Two situlae (SZ-30 situla, and SZ-82 cist with a factory mark) can be dated typologically to the 5^th–4^th c., as are the situla handles SZ-17 handle and SZ-19 handle. SZ-38 on an iron knife dated to the Late Iron Age bears characters identical to SZ-17 – if we are concerned with a factory mark, the piece is likely to be of about the same age as SZ-17 handle. SZ-73 helmet is datable to the 4^th–3^rd c. via typology. The bulk of the pottery (none of it bearing a linguistically relevant inscription) appears to be younger (Sanzeno bowls being dated to the 3^rd–2^nd c.), but see Gamper 2006: 13 ff. about the issues of bowl chronology.

Two objects with linguistically relevant inscriptions from the Nonsberg can be dated to the 5^th c.: NO-3 plaque (via typology, following Tschurtschenthaler & Wein 1998: 243) and NO-11 bronze (late 5^th: hoard/grave I from Dercolo, deposited around 400). NO-8 fragment, being a fragment of a situla, may be assumed to be no younger than the 4^th c.; NO-19 plaque also belongs in that time frame.

The inscription on an antler handle from a settlement near Tesero in the Val di Fiemme (which arguably contains a Celtic theonym) can be dated to the second half of the 5^th–beginning of the 4^th c. via the archaeological context, though a lower dating (4^th–3^rd c.) has also been suggested.

The archaeological site near San Briccio di Lavagno yielded two antler pieces datable by context to the 5^th–4^th c., while two documents from farther north than any before (WE-4 from Stufels (typology and archaeological context) and WE-1 from Matrei am Brenner (typology)) are dated to the same time frame.

From the area of Siebeneich / Settequerce come a simpulum and a cist handle from the 5^th–4^th c., both dated via typology. The bronze objects from nearby Moritzing / San Maurizio are from a grave context dated to the second half of the 5^th–first half of the 4^th c. – these are inscriptions BZ-4 and BZ-9, and the factory marks on BZ-8 situla. Note that it is not quite clear what type of vessel the fragmentary support of BZ-4 made a part of; the object may be rather older (around 500). BZ-7 cist, also from Moritzing, belongs in the same time frame, as do three potsherds from St. Hippolyt / Sant'Ippolito with non-inscriptions. All inscriptions are written in the standard Sanzeno alphabet.

The settlement on the Montesei di Serso was originally dated generally to the Late Iron Age (5^th–2^nd c., Perini 1978: 52). The excavation report (Perini 1965b) lists eight of the ten antler pieces as found in the two older layers C"' and C" in the North-Western corner of house 2, while two more (currently unidentified, I believe) were found in the Eastern part in the layer C' (p. 58). According to Marzatico 2001b: 505, the settlement dates to the 5^th–4^th c., with only house 3 yielding younger finds (3^rd–2^nd c.). Therefore, the dating given by Gleirscher apud Schumacher 2004: 247 (5^th–4^th c.) is to be preferred to that of Dal Rì 1987: 176, who, for reasons not evident, gives the 3^rd c. for the antlers.

EN-1 potsherd is dated to the 5^th–3^rd c. via context and typology. NO-14 potsherd also belongs in that time frame.

The Situla Giovanelli, an isolated find from Caslir in the Val di Cembra, is dated typologically to the 4^th c.

The four inscriptions/inscriptoids from a settlement near Montorio Veronese can be dated by context to the 4^th–3^rd c.

The settlement of Bostel di Rotzo, and with it the finds, is dated to the 4^th–2^nd c. AS-3 potsherd and the more recent finds AS-15 beaker–AS-23 beaker can be dated more specifically to the end of the 4^th–3^rd c.

BZ-11 cist is dated to the 4^th–2^nd c. via context.

Sanzeno bowls are dated to the 3^rd–2^nd c.; this includes the material from Sanzeno itself, as well as the inscriptoids from the Rungger Egg and WE-6 potsherd from Mellaun / Meluno. For the dating of the other three potsherds from the latter site cp. again Gamper 2006: 13 ff. BZ-13 potsherd from the Pfatten / Vadena settlement is also dated to that time frame, as are the bowls from Dercolo.

The finds from the Ganglegg come from the last phase of the settlement, i.e. the 3^rd–1^st c.

The three potsherds from the Himmelreich are dated between the middle of the 3^rd–1^st c., probably tending towards the higher date given the presence of the fragment of a Fritzner Schale.

The bones from Colle di Castello (Trissino) are dated to the end of the 2^nd–beginning of 1^st c. via context, as are the finds from San Giorgio di Valpolicella.

VR-4 bone from Castelrotto is dated to the 1^st c. via context, as is the fragment of a musical instrument from Fritzens. Typologically from the 1^st c. is NO-9 fibula (probably no inscription). NO-2 strainer from Cles is dated to the 1^st c. BC–1^st c. AD by Gleirscher via Schumacher 2004: 248. BZ-24 slab can be dated to the Late Roman Republican Period by the decoration style (Stefan Demetz p.c.).

The helmet finds from Slovenia and the Kosman-Gut can be typologically dated to the second half of the 5^th c. (Vače) and the second half of the 5^th–beginning of the 4^th c. (Negau A, fragments from the Kosman hoard) respectively. However, the depot in which Negau A was found was laid down at the end of the 2^nd c. at the earliest, the Kosman hoard can be dated to the first half of the 1^st c. This means that the inscriptions, esp. of Negau A with its mix of (Sanzeno) Raetic, Venetic and Celtic traces in language and writing, may have been inscribed at any time between these dates, and indeed must be expected to have been applied at different times. (As concerns relative chronology, the Celtic-Venetic inscription can be argued to predate the Raetic SL-2.1 and SL-2.2.) It must be born in mind that the Vače helmet, whose inscription has , may have had a similarly long history and have been inscribed at a later date.

Remaining material, undated/undatable/dated to the Late Iron Age:
TV-1 slab (Castelcies)
The inscriptions from Magrè can only be dated to the Late Iron Age. The dating to the 3^rd–2^nd c. given by Gambacurta 2002b: 122 requires substantiation.
AS-14 potsherd (Piovene Rocchette)
NO-4 antler, NO-5 potsherd, NO-6 fragment, NO-7 antler (different contexts near Mechel / Meclo)
NO-1 fragment, NO-15 rod, NO-16 bronze, NO-17 bone point (Campi Neri)
NO-10 slab (Tavòn)
Sanzeno bronze objects
Sanzeno iron objects (bearing mainly factory marks, according to Nothdurfter 1979: 97 best dated between the 5^th and the end of the 2^nd c.
Sanzeno antler and bone objects
HU-1 axe (best grouped with the bronze objects from Sanzeno)
HU-4 rod
BZ-14 plaque, BZ-15 antler, BZ-16 chisel (different contexts near Eppan / Appiano)
BZ-19 sickle (St. Hippolyt / Sant'Ippolito)
BZ-6 slab (Siebeneich / Settequerce)
BZ-10 slab, BZ-12 key, BZ-25 fragment (Pfatten / Vadena)
RN-1 slab, RN-2 rod, RN-3 potsherd (Piperbühel)
VN-1 (Tartscher Bühel)
WE-2 potsherd (Kronbühel / Custozza)
IT-5 plaque (Ampass)
IT-6 stone, IT-7 plaque (Pfaffenhofen)
IT-8 potsherd, IT-9 bowl, IT-10 potsherd (Fliess) (5th c.?)
AK, ST, UG (rock inscriptions)

From the overview given above, a rough history of Raetic writing culture can be inferred. However, it has to be taken cum grano salis as long as substantial and important finds such as the Magrè and Inn valley inscriptions cannot be included.

It can be observed that the oldest testimonies of Raetic writing, as said above, are notable for both inscriptions and supports, though it should not be forgotten that the Paletta di Padova and the Spada di Verona may be younger. Still, it appears that in a first phase of Raetic writing, only special objects were inscribed, sporadically and with much care. HU-7, PA-1 and VR-3 are apparently of votive character, containing the word utiku. The alphabets used differ from each other, only those of HU-7 and VR-3 may be compared: They both feature Magrè-style inverted and , though in regard to their age and possible status as "proto-Raetic" testimonies, it may be preferable not to assign them to the Magrè alphabet. However, there are typically Raetic features in three-bar Mu and HU-7's →, and notably (in the absence of either Pi or Theta/(regular) Tau). PA-1 shares the inverted letters, but otherwise appears to work with a restricted character set, spelling utiku with and possible using a digraph <kh> for a marked velar. It employs punctuation for auslauting consonants (?). Phi, Tau and Chi are not employed in any of the three inscriptions. PU-1 is epigraphically notably different: While Upsilon and Lambda (here together with angled Pi) are also inverted, the alphabet used has Phi and Chi, and appears to employ a curious variant of Zeta for a marked dental stop (i.e. in place of Tau). Also in evidence are four-stroke Sigma , which occurs elsewhere only the more peculiar type of prevalently dextroverse Raetic rock inscriptions, and double-pennon San , isolated in the Raetic corpus.

The oldest document from the central Raetic area, from the burnt-offerings site at the Monte Ozol, is reminiscent in form () and content (terisna) not of the Sanzeno-type material discussed in the next paragraph, but of the Serso inscriptions and SL-1.

In view of the fact that all the datable material from the central Raetic area (Sanzeno and the Nonsberg / Val di Non, Bozen / Bolzano), excepting the pottery, which only bears marks, comes from the 5^th–4^th c., it may tentatively be assumed that the writing culture emanating (allegedly) from the Sanzeno sanctuary flourished in these two centuries and constitutes a second phase of Raetic writing. Again, though, it has to be remembered that the bulk of the material is undated. If the use of the Sanzeno alphabet is indeed restricted to La Tène A and B, IT-5 can be argued to be by far the earliest document from the Inn valley.

At about the same time, San Briccio produces testimonies in the far South. Note that VR-1, featuring , points back towards VR-3, whereas VR-2 shows similarities to the young inscription groups of San Giorgio di Valpolicella and Castelrotto, which can be argued to connect the area of Verona with Etruscan writing (see above). The Montorio Veronese inscriptions, chronologically and geographically in between, fail to constitute a link.

The inscriptions on the Situla Giovanelli in the 4^th c., with their lack of the Sanzeno special character and solitary syllabic punctuation mark, constitute a smooth transition – at least on paper – to a conceivable third phase of Raetic writing, marked by discrete group finds mainly in the South: Bostel, Trissino, the abovementioned Montorio Veronese and San Giorgio di Valpolicella, as well as, a belated sign of life from the Sanzeno alphabet, the Ganglegg. It is understandable why the Serso and Magrè groups are generally preferred to be dated to this phase, though note that the Serso inscriptions may be as old as the 5^th c. – the higher dating is suggested by arguably archaic .

The inscriptions from St. Lorenzen / San Lorenzo di Sebato as well as WE-4 and WE-1 from the Wipp- and Eisacktal, written in a Magrè-style alphabet similar to the oldest testimonies, show that a Venetoid writing tradition continued also in the North (outside the Sanzeno catchment area) during phase 2, which we have associated with the central Raetic area. The material from the Inn valley being mostly undated, it is hard to judge the progress of Raetic writing culture in the North. Note that IT-4 is dated by context and may be considerably older than the 1^st c. The alphabet used in some of the rock inscriptions (see below) can be compared to that used in PU-1, indicating that the rock inscriptions themselves may be of considerable age.

Object and inscription groups

Rock inscriptions

	dir	pun	lig
ST-1	←	-	-	-	-	-
ST-2	←	-	-	-	-	-
ST-3	←	-	-	-	-	-
ST-4	←	x	-		-
ST-5	←	x	x	x	x	x
ST-6	→	x	x	x	x	x
ST-8	→	x	-	x		x
AK-1.1	←	-	-	-
AK-1.2	←	-	-		-
AK-1.6	←	-	-	-	-
AK-1.7	←	-	-		-
AK-1.10	→			x		-
AK-1.11	→	x	(x)	x	x	x
AK-1.17	→	-	(x)	x
AK-1.19	←	-	-		-
AK-2.1	→	(x)		x
AK-2.2	→	x		x
UG-1.1	→	-	-	x	-	-
UG-1.2	→	-	-	-	-	-

Petrographs from the Raetic area and displaying linguistically Raetic features have been found (so far) only in the very North, i.e. in the Northern Limestone Alps. The Schneidjoch (ST, one rock) and the site of the Achenkirch inscriptions (AK, min. two rocks) are located close to each other in the Steinberg/Achensee region (Tyrol); the Unterammergau inscriptions (UG, min. three rocks) are found in Southern Bavaria. Not all of the inscriptions registered in the TIR are epigraphically or linguistically utilisable – of some, only faint traces can be seen, many are doubtful, a few are most probably not Raetic or even script. Among the longer testimonies from Tyrol, two groups emerge under both alphabetical and linguistical aspects:

• Sinistroverse inscriptions ending in -nuale, containing straight-forward name formulae in the pertinentive case (where decipherable), featuring the expectable Venetoid and other Magrè letter forms and being generally inconspicuous: ST-1, ST-2, ST-3, AK-1.1, AK-1.2, AK-1.6, AK-1.7, AK-1.19.
• Dextroverse inscriptions of unclear linguistic content, showing certain special features (to varying extent): the punctuation of suffixes, ligatures, and the letter forms (angles opening in writing direction), and . Of these inscriptions, ST-5 (the only sinistroverse one) and ST-6 are particularly similar in structure; AK-1.11 (as well as the fragmentary AK-1.10, AK-2.1 and AK-2.2) may be grouped alongside. Dextroverse AK-1.17 lacks the punctuated suffixes, but has and apparently a (different) ligature.

For a detailed itemisation see the table on the right. The inscriptions ST-4 and ST-8 do not fit in smoothly with either group. The testimonies from Unterammergau are hard to compare with the Achental-subcorpus: Of the two utilisable inscriptions, both dextroverse, UG-1.1 is unusually short and features ; UG-1.2 has standard and is equally opaque.

The inscriptions of the first group are written in the Magrè alphabet, with the typically Raetic orientation of Sigma, but "traditional" North Italic Alpha with the bar slanting down in writing direction. As concerns the second group, the form of Lambda occurs in the votive inscriptions of the Venetic sanctuaries of Auronzo and Calalzo (Làgole) di Cadore in the upper Piave/Ansiei valley, but this is the only similarity with that subcorpus. Punctuation of suffixes rather than syllabic punctuation is not known from Venetic, but see the comments on punctuation in Raetic below. The ligatures stand isolated as well. None of the Raetic petrographs show any particular affinity to the only rock inscriptions in the Venetic corpus, those from Würmlach in the Gail valley (Gt 13–23).

Apart from the somewhat doubtful and epigraphically Camunic AV-1, the rock inscriptions are the only testimonies of Raetic from beyond the Inn valley. Any propositions concerning the ultimate function of these inscriptions and the identity and purpose of the writers must at this point remain speculative.

Stone slabs

Ciottoloni
Two oval stones, both from alphabetical Magrè context and bearing somewhat similar marks on one of the more level surfaces. The objects themselves, however, are less similar: While the object from the Inn valley is smaller and perforated, the one from Serso is too large to be carried about, and features a cross on the other side. Their function and the nature of the characters is unknown. Cp. ciottoloni from Venetic context, which are inscribed with funerary texts (Pellegrini & Prosdocimi 1967: Es ???).

Helmets

Loom weights
Two stone loom weights were found near St. Lorenzen / San Lorenzo di Sebato in the Puster valley, but in different find spots and of different type: While PU-2 loom weight is conical (Zettelstrecker), PU-3 loom weight is circular. The characters inscribed are also quite different. The circular object is the most relevant find epigraphically, bearing numerous characters in different sizes, applied with different instruments; the manner of inscription is more reminiscent of certain bowls (see above). The conical weight, on the other hand, is inscribed (or more likely decorated) with sequences of alternate and , and thereby more similar to another conical object which might qualify as a loom weight: a leaden ingot from Magrè inscribed with a zig-zag line.

Sequences of , and

• The uθiiθi-group. The sequence recurs on three scythe rings (SZ-44.1, SZ-45.1, SZ-46.1), always accompanied by la in the reverse side, and also appears on a chisel and a knife. This suggests a factory mark; however, a fourth scythe ring is inscribed with a different combination of , and . This objects differs from the others in size, so numerical notation (size, weight, price?) comes into consideration. (A fifth scythe ring appears to have yet another sequence, maybe featuring additional characters.) la, interestingly, is also associated with bowls (see above).
• . The sequence occurring on the abovementioned fourth scythe ring is also found, curiously, on a worked piece of bone – the latter has been interpreted as being connected to lot throwing (cp. the bone points of the Ganglegg), which would lead one to expect an inscription in some way connected to the numinous sphere, or names as on the Ganglegg. Then again, knowing as little as we do about the actual practice of Raetic sortes, we cannot exclude numerical writing (or indeed, anything).
• Another presumably votive object is the horse statuette with . See above on the question of whether votive bronzes feature indications of price.
• . Occurring only once, on a bronze axe only likely to be from Sanzeno, but suspiciously similar to .
• On diverse iron implements. SZ-81, BZ-19
• On bronze vessels. SZ-82, BZ-8.2
• On pottery. BZ-20, (BZ-21), (BZ-22), (BZ-23)
• Ornament. and being age-old elements of decoration, sequences serving purely aesthetic purposes may find their way into the corpus. They can sometimes be identfied by the symmetry of arrangement and/or position: on the tip of a tusk, on a loom weight. Another such case, introduced by Mancini in the LIR (SA-96; EX-1), is an obviously ornamental band along the back of a knife, and has not been included in the TIR. Also suspicious is SZ-80 with its curious spacing ( ).

(IT-9), (SZ-36), VN-4, VN-5.1, VN-6, VN-7.2, VR-8, WE-5.1.2, WE-8.2 kolie-tu zu den codae?

Bibliography

Main Chapter Pages:
Ancient sources I Archaeology in the Raetic area I Bibliography I Concordance I Index I Modern research on Raetic I Non-script notational systems I Raetic epigraphy I Raetica I Script I The Raetic language