SZ-69

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Inscription
Transliteration:	nana
Original script:	unknown
Variant Reading:	§
Object:	SZ-69 potsherd (pottery)
Position:	bottom, outside
Script:	unknown
Direction of writing:	ambiguous
Letter height:	1.31.3 cm <br /> – 1.6 cm
Number of letters:	4
Number of lines:	1
Craftsmanship:	incised
Current condition:	complete
Archaeological culture:	Roman republican period [from object]
Date of inscription:	-100 [from object]
Date derived from:	typology [from object]
Language:	unknown
Meaning:
Alternative sigla:	IR 68 LIR SA-42
Sources:	Schumacher 2004: 148

Commentary

First published in IR.
Pictures in IR (photo tav. LI, fig. a and drawing) = LIR (photo and drawing).
While ana seems clear, the leftmost group of strokes is problematic. It can simply be read as n with a very short hasta like the second one, making those letters look like Latin N. However, there is another scratch slanting away from the top of the rightmost stroke of the group, while a horizontal stroke turns the first angle into another . Mancini suggests an alternative reading apana. Considering that the object is atypical in Raetic context, the apparently dextroverse inscription might be written in the Latin or in a Latinised alphabet. Pseudo-script cannot be excluded.

Bibliography

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)