NO-17
| Inscription | |
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| Transliteration: | ketanuvaleutiku |
| Original script: |         
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| Variant Reading: | kepanuvaleupiku
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| Object: | NO-17 bone point (bone) |
| Position: | right-hand side"right-hand side" 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 (Sanzeno alphabet) |
| Direction of writing: | sinistroverse |
| Letter height: | 0.8 cm |
| Number of letters: | 15 |
| Number of lines: | 1 |
| Craftsmanship: | engraved |
| Current condition: | complete, damaged |
| Date of inscription: | 5th–2nd centuries BC [from object] |
| Date derived from: | archaeological context [from object] |
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| Language: | Raetic |
| Meaning: | 'X-ed of/by the son of Keta*' |
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| Alternative sigla: | MLR 31 |
Images
 Object NO-17 bone point with inscription NO-17.
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 Inscription NO-17.
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Commentary
First published in Marchesini 2014: 138. Autopsied by TIR in October 2014.
Image in Marchesini 2014: fig. 4 (photo), MLR (photo).
Length 4.8 cm, inscribed along the shaft of the object, starting at 4 mm from the end. The writer did not manage to keep a straight line, the last letter being situated about 3 mm higher than the first one. The lines are thin, but the letters are well distinguishable. The glue from the application of the invertory number covers the lower parts of letters . Towards the end of the inscription, a number of scratches disturbs the reading, esp. and (in the latter case leading Marchesini to read ). The bars of do not touch the hastae.
The interpretation is clear: a patronymic in the pertinentive with a verbal form in -ku. The v between u and a can well be explained as an avoidance of hiatus. Tau in this inscription would be turned against writing direction, but a reading is difficult in both instances: The bar does clearly cross the hasta, not touch it's top; in the second instance, it is longer on the left than on the right side of the hasta. Hastae and bars do not cross in any of the other letters. Cp. the unlikeliness of Marstrander's reading of BZ-4. One would have to assume a writing mistake, maybe a misinterpretation of an original. Note, however, that Marchesini read despite failing to recognize the form upiku, and also that Tau does not otherwise occur in the context of the Sanzeno alphabet. For the problem of utiku/uθiku vs. upiku see Φ.
Bibliography
| Marchesini 2014 | 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. |
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