NO-17 bone point

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Object
Classification: bone
Archaeological type: bone point
Material: bone
Size: length: 14.6 cm, width: 9 mm, thickness: 6 mm
Condition: complete
Date: 5th–2nd centuries BC
Date derived from: archaeological context

Site: Cles (Trento, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy)
Field name: Campi Neri
Coordinates (approx.): 46° 22' 1.20" N, 11° 1' 58.80" E [from site]
Find date: between 1999 and 2007
Find circumstances: excavation
Current location: Museo Retico Sanzeno
Inventory Nr.: R.R. 3066

Inscription: NO-17 (ketanuvaleutiku)

Sources: Marchesini 2014: 138, fig. 4

Images

Commentary

Bone point.
Small bone rod divided into an elongated section with a flat, long-oval and edged cross section and a lanceolate and perforated part. Complete extant.
Along an extensive inscription.
The bone point was discovered during official excavations which were executed by the monument protection service between 1999 and 2007.
According to the Gamper's explanations related to the discoveries on the Ganglegg hill, it can be said that the extension related to bone points includes the areas along the Val d'Adige (Etschtal) to the Valpolicella region (cp. map 29 in Gamper 2006: 143). Inscribed bone points appear in the settlements among others of Sanzeno and Montesei di Serso. These settlements date to middle and late La Tène period. However there are other bone points e.g. from Monte Ozol which date already to the late Hallstatt period. But these objects are neither inscribed nor decorated and the dimension of these is larger than of those which date to later periods. The function of these bone points are uncertain. It can be suggested that they were used in handcraft sector or that they were part of the attire. Related to this insecurity Gamper indicates these objects on one side as bone points (Knochenspitze), otherwise he uses also the term needle (Nadel) (cp. Gamper 2006: 145). The secondary function of these bone points is the use and deposition of these for the ritual abandonment of houses. The ritual context can be verified so far only on the Ganglegg hill and the here located settlement. Related to altogether four houses resp. rooms the ritual use of the bone points is proved on the Ganglegg hill. Gamper suggests that a partly ritual function of the bone points can be supposed for the late La Tène period (cp. Gamper 2006: 145). On the Ganglegg hill were discovered several inscribed bone points (cp. in the present data bank VN-9 bone point, VN-11 bone point,VN-12 bone point, VN-16 bone point and VN-18 bone point) as well as a large number of bone points with incised signs of which the interpretation is uncertain. Probably they present decorations, numbers or the like (cp. the main chapter about the Non-script notational systems). Further examples of inscribed bone points derive from other find places (cp. in the present data bank NO-17 bone point and VR-17 bone point). Marchesini indicates SZ-48 bone as fragment of a further bone point (cp. Marchesini 2014: 138).
So far not autopsied by the Thesaurus Inscriptionum Raeticarum. The indications follow the information given in literature (cp. below the bibliography) and by comparing with the already autopsied bone points from the Ganglegg hill.

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.
Gamper 2006 Peter Gamper, Die latènezeitliche Besiedlung am Ganglegg in Südtirol. Neue Forschungen zur Fritzens-Sanzeno-Kultur [= Internationale Archäologie 91], Rahden/Westfalen: Leidorf 2006.
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.