NO-16 bronze

edit with form

Object
Classification:	bronze
Material:	bronze
Size:	length: 6.4 cm, height: 5 cm, width: 1.1 cm
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 1043
Inscription:	NO-16 (tianusa/taniun)
Sources:	Marchesini 2014: 137–138, fig. 3a, fig. 3b

Images

Object NO-16 bronze with inscription NO-16 - left-hand side.

Object NO-16 bronze with inscription NO-16 - right-hand side.

Commentary

Horseman and horse. Bronze.
Cast in mould; full-plastic worked although the two casts do not fit perfectly together. Patina, from dark green to brown with light green spots, smooth, slightly corroded in particular on one side. Highly stylised. Only the helmet of the horseman and the muzzle of the horse more elaborated.
The above-mentioned dimensions result of the autopsy by the Thesaurus Inscriptionum Raeticarum. Marchesini indicates: "(...) lungh. max. di 6,4 cm e una alt. di 4,8 cm. Lo spessore della figura a metà è di ca. 0,7 cm" (cp. Marchesini 2014: 137).
On either side inscribed. The insription represents a dedication to Tianu which probably indicates a Raetic theonym (cp. NO-15).
The bronze 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 horseman 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).
Related to the inscription and the potential interpretation of Tianu as Raetic theonym the bronze represents a votive offering. Comparative examples related to subject as well as to function in the Thesaurus Inscriptionum Raeticarum are: The entire group of the bronzes from Sanzeno in particular the "Cavaliere di Sanzeno" as well as the almost identical bronze formerly preserved in the Kunsthaus Zürich. Moreover, together with the other objects filled in the pit the bronze was part of a votive deposit.
In the recently released study about the Raetic inscriptions by Marchesini the object is listed with "MLR 29", an autopsy was effected. The here given inventory number "R.R. 1043" displays the find number (cp. MLR: 57 [MLR 29]; Note: R.R. = Reperto registrato). The above-mentioned inventory number "CCN 1043" 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.