NO-15 rod

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Object
Classification:	unidentifiable
Material:	bronze
Size:	length: 10.3 cm, diameter: 9 mm, diameter (gold wire): 1 mm
Condition:	complete
Date:	5th–2nd centuries BC
Date derived from:	archaeological context
Site:	Cles (Trento, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy)
Field name:	Campi Neri
Archaeological context:	sanctuary (Objects: NO-15 rod, NO-16 bronze, NO-17 bone point)
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 (on exhibition)
Inventory Nr.:	CCN 1406
Inscription:	NO-15 (esumnesinuþnualeutikutianus)
Sources:	Marchesini 2014: 129, fig. 1

Images

Object NO-15 rod with inscription NO-15.

Commentary

Bronze rod.
Complete; round cross-section; either ends rounded. Patina, from yellowish-brownish to green, smooth, slightly corroded with abrasions in particular on the back side. At one end one circumferential indentation made intentionally.
A gold ring of thin wire around the rod. However it cannot necessarily assumed that the gold wire is really part of the object or if it was an accidental finding situation.
The above-mentioned dimensions result of the autopsy by the Thesaurus Inscriptionum Raeticarum. Marchesini indicates: "L'astina di bronzo (...) di forma cilindrica (...), con un diametro (...) da 0,6 a 0,4 cm. La lunghezza è di 11,4 cm. Un anellino d'oro (diam. 1,1 cm ca.), di filo sottile (diam. 0,2 cm)" (cp. Marchesini 2014: 129).
Along an extensive inscription which displays a dedication from Esumne to Tianu where the latter probably indicates a Raetic theonym. Moreover utiku appears which can also be connected with the ritual act of dedication.
The bronze rod was found during the excavations effected in Cles, Campi Neri between 1999 and 2007. The excavations were executed by the monument protection service. Due to these excavations the area of the Campi Neri could be identified as cult site with a duration from the end of the Copper Age to the late Roman Period, almost without interruption of use. The findings related to the Fritzens-Sanzeno culture can be dated from the 5th to the 2nd centuries BC. The bronze rod was found together with another bronze object in a large pit with a carbonised filling. According to Endrizzi's indications it is conceivable that the pit and the here laid down objects must be related to the construction of the way in the Roman period and the entire finding must be interpreted as votive deposit of the Roman period where votive offerings from the Raetic period were used (cp. Endrizzi 2014: 128).
The function of the rod could not be reliably determined however a cultic function can probably be assumed related to the find context of the object. Possibly the bronze rod can be connected with objects in general used for the divination like the astragaloi or the sortes (cp. for the sortes in the Fritzens-Sanzeno culture: Zemmer-Plank 2002). Concerning the inscription and the potential interpretation of Tianu as Raetic theonym the bronze rod represents a votive offering. Together with the other objects filled in the pit the rod was part of a votive deposit.
In the recently released study about the Raetic inscriptions by Marchesini the rod is listed with "MLR 30", an autopsy was effected. The here given inventory number "R.R. 1406" displays the find number (cp. MLR: 58 [MLR 30]; Note: R.R. = Reperto registrato). The above-mentioned inventory number "CCN 1406" is the actually valid inventory number where the indication "CCN" refers to the finding place Cles, Campi Neri.
Autopsied by the Thesaurus Inscriptionum Raeticarum in October 2014.

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.

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.