VR-6

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Inscription
Transliteration:	]ạṭ·laþu?[
Original script:	]?[
Object:	VR-6 antler (antler)
Position:	front
Script:	North Italic script
Direction of writing:	sinistroverse
Letter height:	1.91.9 cm <br /> – 2.4 cm
Number of letters:	5
Number of characters:	6
Number of lines:	1
Craftsmanship:	engraved
Current condition:	damaged, fragmentary
Date of inscription:	4th–3rd centuries BC [from object]
Date derived from:	archaeological context [from object]
Language:	unknown
Meaning:	unknown
Alternative sigla:	MLR 291 TM 653636

Commentary

First published in Marinetti 2004: 409 f. (no. 1). Autopsied by TIR on 17^th November 2015.

Images in Marinetti 2004: 409 (drawing), MLR (photo).

Length of the remains 9 cm. Deeply engraved and well legible. The sequence in the middle is unambiguous. On the right, the lower parts of two letters are gone. Marinetti's reading is improbable, given that the bars do not meet, but rather cross the respective hastae. Also, the remains of another line can be seen in the upper area at the breaking edge: Alpha, as suggested by Marchesini, is plausible, as is Tau for the following letter, although the latter is turned against writing direction. A syllabic punct would then be in place. After Upsilon, three oblique scratches of increasing length – the arrangement is vaguely reminiscent of VR-2 and also interpreted as a ligature of Upsilon and Alpha by Marchesini (with the last line read Iota). ·ii as suggested by Marinetti is unlikely. The last character on the left is or .

Venetoid Upsilon indicates the Magrè (or in fact a Venetic) alphabet, as does Tau – hence our reading of as Lambda. The occurence of the Sanzeno special character is surprising (in VR-10, Tau represents the dental affricate). The sequence is obscure – cp. laþe in BZ-10.1?

Bibliography

Marinetti 2004	Anna Marinetti, "Nuove iscrizioni retiche dall'area veronese", Studi Etruschi 70 (2004), 408–420.