Raetic epigraphy

Inscription finds and subcorpora

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

Starting in the South-East of the Raetic realm, 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, though the context does not suggest the presence of 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 of apparently Celtic content. 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 realm. 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 belt plaque 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 realm, 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.

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.

Slovenian helmets

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