MA-20

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Inscription
Transliteration:	]θ̣ịχ̣ịṇụa??(?)iχa
Original script:	(?)??[
Object:	MA-20 antler (antler)
Position:	front
Script:	North Italic script (Magrè alphabet)
Direction of writing:	sinistroverse
Letter height:	2.9 cm
Number of letters:	12
Number of lines:	1
Craftsmanship:	engraved
Current condition:	fragmentary, damaged
Date of inscription:	3rd–2nd centuries BC [from object]
Date derived from:	archaeological context [from object]
Language:	Raetic
Meaning:	'son of ?-ki ?'
Alternative sigla:	PID 240 LIR MA-14 MLR 52 TM 218493
Sources:	Schumacher 2004: 165

Commentary

First published in Pellegrini 1918: 187 f. (no. 18).

Images in Pellegrini 1918: 187, fig. 25 (drawing), LIR (photos and drawings), MLR (photo).

Length of the remains 9.1 cm, starting at the narrower end of the antler piece. The lines, where preserved, are thin, but well visible. The narrower end of the antler with the beginning of the inscription is missing, as are most of the fragments bearing the upper parts of all remaining letters exept for the last three. On fragment 1 (lower area), first an oblique line , probably the remains of . Then, four hastae which can be aligned with the tops of letters preserved on fragment 2 to read . On fragments 1 and 3, almost complete ; on fragments 3 and 4, almost complete . After this, a vertical (with the top missing) inscribed as much above as next to Alpha – Marchesini reads a punctuation mark, but the line is definitely too long, and puncts of this kind are not attested in Magrè. Next, another long vertical, damaged at the top, followed by two shorter oblique lines. Pellegrini read , but the supposed bars are too long and straight; even the lower one does not appear to meet the hasta. Seeing as the final three letters are noticeably shorter than in the rest of the inscription, is is safer to assume that the two lines are intended as hastae – possibly ? Final is complete on fragment 4.

The sequence ]θiχinu can be compared with φutiχinu (MA-19) and valθikinu (MA-17); it is the remains of a Raetic patronym in -nu. Note that here as in MA-17, it is followed by a, which cannot be excluded to be a genitive ending. The final sequence (a)??u^?iχa is opaque (as is (a)sua in MA-17).

On the back (on fragments 1 and 2, at 8.7 cm from the broader end), the remains of a mark similar those on most antler votives from Magrè.

Further references: Tibiletti Bruno 1978: 237.

Bibliography

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)