TR-3

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Inscription
Transliteration:	p̣ịθ̣ị
Original script:
Object:	TR-3 bone (bone)
Position:	back, centre"centre" is not in the list (front, back, top, bottom, inside, outside, neck, shoulder, foot, handle, ...) of allowed values for the "position" property.
Script:	North Italic script (Magrè alphabet)
Direction of writing:	dextroverse
Letter height:	1.2 cm
Number of letters:	4
Number of lines:	1
Craftsmanship:	engraved
Current condition:	complete
Date of inscription:	end of the 2nd–beginning of the 1st centuries BC [from object]
Date derived from:	archaeological context [from object]
Language:	Raetic
Meaning:	'Piθi' (PN) (?)
Alternative sigla:	MLR 283
Sources:	Schumacher 2004: 321

Commentary

First published in Mancini 1995: 147 f. Autopsied by TIR on 13^th October 2015.

Image in Mancini 1995: 148 (drawing = Schumacher 2004: Taf. 11, 3 = LIR = MLR).

Length 1.5 cm, applied on the concave side of the bone. The reading was suggested by Mancini, but the inscription is very messy and the identification of letters accordingly doubtful. The St. Andrew's cross is comparatively clear (). To its right, a vertical (); a small oblique scratch in the upper area between them. Left of the cross, a jumble of scratches. If , the hasta of is slightly crooked, and the angle war scratched repeatedly. is made up of two scratches, touching the angle of and crossing one if the hastae of . The whole inscription might only be pseudo-script. The main point supporting the reading is the good attestation of the name piθi(e) in Magrè, where, unlike Trissino, dextroverse inscriptions occur.

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)
Mancini 1995	Alberto Mancini, "Nuove Iscrizioni Retiche", Quaderni del Dipartimento di Linguistica - Università di Firenze 6 (1995), 137–153.