SR-8

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Inscription
Transliteration:	vs·eraus·
Original script:
Variant Reading:	vsieraus·
Object:	SR-8 antler (antler)
Position:	front
Script:	North Italic script (Magrè alphabet)
Direction of writing:	sinistroverse
Letter height:	1.11.1 cm <br /> – 1.7 cm
Number of letters:	7 – 8
Number of characters:	9
Number of lines:	1
Craftsmanship:	engraved
Current condition:	damaged
Date of inscription:	3rd century BC [from object]
Date derived from:	archaeological context [from object]
Language:	unknown
Meaning:	unknown
Alternative sigla:	IR 90 LIR SE-5 TM 218466
Sources:	Schumacher 2004: 158, 338

Images

Object SR-8 antler with inscription SR-8.

Commentary

First published in Pellegrini & Sebesta 1965: 14 (no. 8). Autopsied by TIR in November 2014.

Images in Pellegrini & Sebesta 1965: 14 (drawing) and fig. 11 (photo), IR (drawing = LIR), LIR (photo).

Length 4.1 cm. The lines are deep and broad and well visible; a vertical crack damages . While it has generally been assumed that the inscription is incomplete in the beginning, a space of 0.5 cm which holds no trace of a character separates the initial letter from the breaking edge. The assumption that letters preceded is probably owing to the initial consonant cluster vs-. The dubious element between and is a shortish vertical scratch very close to the hasta of , which might be read i or as a punctuation mark. It may have been added belatedly, seeing as it looks wedged in between two letters which are at a regular distance of each other. In either case, it might be speculated that it was inserted in the wrong place: A punctuation mark in this place does not at all conform to the Venetic system of syllable punctuation; a letter i situated between and instead of and would solve the problem of the initial cluster. Cp. line 1 of SR-1, also with a problematic short scratch in the middle of the inscription alongside a clear punctuation mark at the end (inscribed). Considering the tidyness of the inscription, a repetition of the hasta of can be excluded. No interpretation can be offered.

Further references: Pellegrini & Sebesta 1965: 23, Tibiletti Bruno 1978: 234 ff.

Bibliography

IR	Alberto Mancini, "Iscrizioni retiche", Studi Etruschi 43 (1975), 249–306.
LIR	Alberto Mancini, Le Iscrizioni Retiche [= Quaderni del dipartimento di linguistica, Università degli studi di Firenze Studi 8–9], Padova: Unipress 2009–10. (2 volumes)