SZ-38 knife

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Object
Classification:	sword
Material:	iron
Condition:	fragmentary
Date:	5th–1st centuries BC
Date derived from:	archaeological context
Site:	Sanzeno (Trento, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy)
Field name:	Casalini
Archaeological context:	settlement, section D
Coordinates (approx.):	46° 21' 57.60" N, 11° 4' 30.00" E [from site]
Find date:	1950–1951
Find circumstances:	excavation
Current location:	Castello del Buonconsiglio, monumenti e collezioni provinciali
Inventory Nr.:	unknown
Inscription:	SZ-38 (ṣχsi)
Sources:	Fogolari 1960: 276 (No. 68)

Commentary

Iron sword fragment.
Curved, short rectangular hilt; the marginal areas slightly increased, with two small hooks.
On the blade incised characters, probably the manufacturer's mark or a number (cp. Fogolari 1960: 276). The inscription probably first published in Pellegrini 1951: 316, fig. 18 (only transcription of the inscription). Further references: Vetter 1954: 72–73; IR: 272. However Pellegrini, Vetter as well as Mancini only with regard to the inscription.
The sword fragment was found in Sanzeno during the offical excavation from 1950 to 1951. The object was discovered with other findings in section D of the settlement. The map and the here used number 68 indicates the exact find spot of the sword (cp. for the map: Fogolari 1960: pl. A; for the excavation in Sanzeno from 1950 to 1951 cp. Fogolari 1960: 268–277).
According to Fogolari the object is preserved in the Castello del Buonconsiglio, monumenti e collezioni provinciali (cp. Fogolari 1960: 268, fn. 4).
The entire material discovered in Sanzeno dates to the late Iron age period, i.e. from the 5th century BC to the Roman period (cp. Fogolari 1960: 269). Therefore the sword fragment must also date to this timeframe.
So far not autopsied by the Thesaurus Inscriptionum Raeticarum. The indications follow the information given in literature (cp. below the bibliography).

Bibliography

Fogolari 1960	Giulia Fogolari, "Sanzeno nell'Anaunia", in: Deputazione di Storia Patria per le Province di Romagna (Eds), Civiltà del Ferro. Studi pubblicati nella ricorrenza centenaria della scoperta di Villanova [= Documenti e studi VI], Bologna: Forni 1960, 265–321.
IR	Alberto Mancini, "Iscrizioni retiche", Studi Etruschi 43 (1975), 249–306.