SZ-96 rod

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Object
Classification:	unidentifiable
Material:	bronze
Size:	length: 5.5 cm, width: 1.4 cm, thickness max.: 0.4 cm, thickness min.: 0.1 cm
Condition:	incomplete, damaged
Archaeological culture:	Late Iron Age
Date:	5th–1st centuries BC
Date derived from:	archaeological context
Site:	Sanzeno (Trento, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy)
Field name:	Casalini
Archaeological context:	house (Objects: SZ-87 rod, SZ-96 rod)
Coordinates (approx.):	46° 21' 57.60" N, 11° 4' 30.00" E [from site]
Find date:	06. 03. 2012
Find circumstances:	excavation
Current location:	Soprintendenza per i beni culturali della Provincia autonoma di Trento – Ufficio beni archeologici (repository)
Inventory Nr.:	none
Inscription:	SZ-96 (venaθ)
Sources:	MLR: 154 [MLR 141], with fig.

Commentary

Bronze rod.
Cast in mould. Not complete; D-cross-section. Patina, from dark green to black; smooth; covered with verdigris, in particular on the back side. One end broken, but only a small piece is missing.
The above-mentioned dimensions result of the autopsy by the Thesaurus Inscriptionum Raeticarum. Marchesini notes: "Lungh max cons 5,6 cm; largh max cons 1,3 cm" (cp. MLR: 154).
On the extant end decorations: (from left) one wider and deeper indentations, one thin indentation where this is also the border for the ribbon of thin obliques. On the other not complete extant end the same decoration is, despite the missing piece, clearly recognisable. The decoration is comparable with those of the other bronze rod found in Sanzeno. On both ends, halfway, in the area of the wider and deeper indentations perforations. In the section of the extant end the perforation still contains the remains of a nail or rivet used as a fastener.
On the front side an inscription, which can be considered as complete.
The bronze rod was found during the excavations carried out in Sanzeno between 2011 and 2012. According to the finds label the 6th March 2012 is given as exact find date. The excavations were executed by the monument protection service. The excavated zone is in the area of what is now the car park opposite the new Museo Retico Sanzeno. During these excavations the remains of "un edificio seminterrato con murature a secco" (cp. Endrizzi 2014: 128) were found. A detailed evaluation of the bronze rod related to the archaeological context is no more possible because the object was found outside the stratum and moreover in an area already destroyed due to previous interventions (cp. Endrizzi 2014: 128; exact indication according to the finds label: US 5). However, the remains of this Raetic house must be connected with the Raetic settlement which came to light in Sanzeno during the excavations carried out by Fogolari (cp. Endrizzi 2014: 128; for the excavations of Fogolari cp. Fogolari 1960).
Due to the missing detailed archaeological context the function of the bronze rod cannot be reliably determined. Because of the inscription and the appearance of the perforations as well as the remains of the nail an interpretation as votive offering is probably conceivable. The perforations and the nail also suggest the use as fitting. A reasonably similar example comes also from Sanzeno, from the same excavated area. This bronze rod is larger but the similarity concerning the style is evident. The object is listed in the Thesaurus Inscriptionum Raeticarum with SZ-87 rod.
In the recently released study about the Raetic inscriptions by Marchesini the rod is listed with "MLR 141", an autopsy was effected (cp. MLR: 154 [MLR 141]).
Autopsied by the Thesaurus Inscriptionum Raeticarum in October 2014.

S.K.

Bibliography

Endrizzi 2014

Lorenza Endrizzi, "Nota sul rinvenimento e inquadramento contestuale", in: Simona Marchesini, "Nuove iscrizioni retiche da Cles e Sanzeno (Trento)", in: Rosa Roncador, Franco Nicolis, Antichi popoli delle Alpi. Sviluppi culturali durante l'età del Ferro nei territori alpini centro-orientali (Atti della giornata internazionale di studi 1 maggio 2010 Sanzeno, Trento), Trento: Provincia autonoma di Trento. Soprintendenza per i beni architettonici e archeologici 2014, 127–144, 128.

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.