IT-1 potsherd

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Object
Classification:	handle
Archaeological type:	Henkeltopf resp. Bandhenkelkrug (Krug Typ Telfes)
Material:	pottery
Size:	height: 6.9 cm, rim diameter: 16 cm, maximum diameter: 18 cm, thickness: 0.5 cm
Condition:	fragmentary
Archaeological culture:	La Tène C, La Tène D
Date:	250–15 BC
Date derived from:	archaeological context
Site:	Volders (Tirol, Austria)
Field name:	Himmelreich
Archaeological context:	circular wall, northern section
Coordinates (approx.):	47° 17' 16.91" N, 11° 34' 43.72" E
Find date:	1954
Find circumstances:	excavation
Current location:	Museum Wattens (on exhibition)
Inventory Nr.:	W.619
Inscription:	IT-1 (???)
Sources:	Kasseroler 1957: 102 [find No. M 619], pl. 42, 1

Images

Object IT-1 potsherd with inscription IT-1.

Object IT-1 potsherd with inscription IT-1.

Commentary

Fragment of a ceramic vessel.
Fragmentary strap handle of a Henkeltopf resp. Bandhenkelkrug (Krug Typ Telfes). Fabric of burnished wheel pottery (produced on slow wheel); medium-fine clay from red brown to dark grey in colour, with a moderate temper of fine grained sand and cast gold; oxidation/reduction firing. Distinctly curved up rims.
The above-mentioned dimensions result of the autopsy by the Thesaurus Inscriptionum Raeticarum.
On vertical position outside of the handle fragment characters. These characters were identified as Roman letters by Franz (cp. Franz cited in Kasseroler 1957: 79).
The potsherd was found in Himmelreich. From 1953 to 1955 the area was excavated by Dr. Alfons Kasseroler. The archaeological structures and the findings indicate a typically Raetic settlement (cp. Sinnhuber 1949; Kasseroler 1957). The present ceramic fragment was found in striking distance to the post-holes and stairs at the northern section of the circular wall, excavated in 1954 and listed with the find number M 619 (cp. Kasseroler 1957: 102).

site plan of the Himmelreich settlement given by Kasseroler (1957).

The dating as stated above is determined by the archaeological context, i.e. by the archaeological structures and further findings discovered in the Raetic settlement Himmelreich. Franz confirms a dating to La Tène C and La Téne D concerning the findings discovered by Kasseroler (cp. Franz 1958: 124).
This kind of jar (Henkeltopf resp. Bandhenkelkrug [Krug Typ Telfes]) appears at almost all La Tène period settlements like Himmelreich, Fritzens or Trappeleacker. Often the term Melauner Henkeltopf is used for labelling this type of vessel with handle. The term however is misleading due to the fact that the present vessel shape does not derive from Melaun ceramic types (cp. Plank 1968: 124 in consequence of Menghin; cp. furthermore Gleirscher 1987: 226–227). The Henkeltopf resp. Bandhenkelkrug (Krug Typ Telfes) comes up in the Tyrolean Inn Valley in the course of the Late Hallstatt period (Hallstatt D) and continues for the entire La Tène period. A diffusion of this jar typ into the cisalpine regions is probably comprehensible by means of the jar type Doss dei Pigui. Cp. Gleirscher 1987: 226–227. Indeed, Marzatico indicates a presumptive relationship between the "boccali tipo Meluno" and the jars type Doss dei Pigui as well as the jars type Telfes i.a. concerning the style and technique of the mouth rim and esp. of the strap handle (cp. Marzatico 1992: 218–220).
In the recently released study about the Raetic inscriptions by Marchesini the sherd is listed with "Sub iudice nr. 20", i.e. among the inscriptions and/or characters with a doubtful character; an autopsy was effected (cp. MLR: 291 [Sub iudice nr. 20]).
Autopsied by the Thesaurus Inscriptionum Raeticarum in November 2013.

S.K.

Bibliography

Franz 1958	Leonhard Franz, "Ur- und frühgeschichtliche Funde in Nordtirol. Eine Übersicht von 1947 bis 1957", Der Schlern 32 (1958), 119–128.
Gleirscher 1987	Paul Gleirscher, "Die Kleinfunde von der Hohen Birga bei Birgitz. Ein Beitrag zur Fritzens-Sanzeno-Kultur", Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission 68 (1987), 181–351.
Kasseroler 1957	Alfons Kasseroler, Die vorgeschichtliche Niederlassung auf dem „Himmelreich“ bei Wattens [= Schlern-Schriften 166], Innsbruck: Wagner 1957.
Marzatico 1992	Franco Marzatico, "Il gruppo Fritzens-Sanzeno", in: Ingrid R. Metzger, Paul Gleirscher, Die Räter / I Reti [= Schriftenreihe der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Alpenländer, Neue Folge 4], Bozen: Athesia 1992, 213–246.