SZ-19 handle

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Object
Classification:	ladle
Archaeological type:	simpulum
Material:	bronze
Size:	length 24.4 cm, thickness about 0.9 cm
Condition:	incomplete
Date:	5th–4th centuries BC
Date derived from:	typology
Site:	Sanzeno (Trento, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy)
Coordinates (approx.):	46° 21' 57.60" N, 11° 4' 30.00" E [from site]
Find date:
Find circumstances:	old finding
Current location:	Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum (repository)
Inventory Nr.:	13.126
Inscription:	SZ-19 (kạþ̣ạ[?]:̣[?]ạ?[?]$)
Sources:	PID: 17–18 (No. 200) Schumacher 2004: 136

Images

Object SZ-19 handle with inscription SZ-19.

Commentary

Fragment of a simpulum (or simpuvium).
All-over covered with patina from light green to dark green in colour with white and brown patches. According to the typology of comparable objects the handle has the typical S-curved elongated handle. Square cross section. Ladle and the upper part of the handle are missing. In the area of the lower part where normally the ladle is attached, the cross-sectional tapering and a rivet are visible.
Remains of an inscription on the flat side.
Schumacher dates the fragment to the period from the 5th to the 4th centuries BC (cp. Schumacher 2004: 247).
According to the information in PID the bronze object was found in Sanzeno, but bought in Bozen for the Tyrolean State Museum Ferdinandeum (cp. PID: 17). There is kept a second bronze fragment of a simpulum in the museum with the same inventory number but the fragment does not fit to the present object. Compared to the description in PID, the attribution is uncertain and arguable.
Autopsied by the Thesaurus Inscriptionum Raeticarum in November 2013.