SZ-30

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Inscription
Transliteration:	ka[
Original script:	[
Object:	SZ-30 situla (bronze)
Position:	inside
Frame:	(none, top and bottom, none)
Script:	North Italic script
Direction of writing:	dextroverse
Letter height:	2.4 cm
Number of letters:	2
Number of lines:	1
Craftsmanship:	embossed
Current condition:	fragmentary, restored
Date of inscription:	5th–4th centuries BC [from object]
Date derived from:	typology [from object]
Language:	Raetic
Meaning:
Alternative sigla:	IR 29 A LIR SA-22 A
Sources:	Schumacher 2004: 139

Images

Inscription SZ-30 - fragment A.	Inscription SZ-30 - fragment B.	Inscription SZ-30 - fragment C.	Inscription SZ-30 - fragments D and E.	Inscription SZ-30 - fragment A.
Object SZ-30 situla with inscription SZ-30 - fragments A-K.	Object SZ-30 situla with inscription SZ-30.

Commentary

First published in IR.
Pictures in IR (photo tav. XLI, fig. a and drawing) = LIR (photo and drawing).
On fragment A. The presence of the rivetted edge before suggests that this fragment bears the beginning of the inscription.
The signs are struck from what was apparently the inside of the situla, and are usually read from this side, even though dextroverse inscriptions are unusual. It is unlikely that the strokes would have been visible on the outside of the vessel even in the absence of copper rust. (Compare, however, IT-5 where the positive side seems to have been the face side.) This raises the question of when and why the signs were embossed. It is generally assumed that the inscription was applied secondarily: The situla was dismantled and inscribed, possibly for votive purposes, on what had been the inside, apparently making use of two decorative lines as a frame for the letters.

Bibliography

IR	Alberto Mancini, "Iscrizioni retiche", Studi Etruschi 43 (1975), 249–306.
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)