SZ-87 rod

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Object
Classification:	unidentifiable
Material:	bronze
Size:	length: 11.8 cm, width: 1.5 cm, height: 7.5 mm
Condition:	incomplete, damaged
Archaeological culture:	Late Iron Age
Date:	5th–1st centuries BC
Date derived from:	archaeological context
Site:	Sanzeno (Trento, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy)
Field name:	Casalini
Archaeological context:	house (Objects: SZ-87 rod, SZ-96 rod)
Coordinates (approx.):	46° 21' 57.60" N, 11° 4' 30.00" E [from site]
Find date:	20. 12. 2011
Find circumstances:	excavation
Current location:	Soprintendenza per i beni culturali della Provincia autonoma di Trento – Ufficio beni archeologici (repository)
Inventory Nr.:	none
Inscription:	SZ-87 (]esminupitisθauχkaạna)
Sources:	Marchesini 2014: 138, fig. 5

Images

Object SZ-87 rod with inscription SZ-87.

Commentary

Bronze rod.
Cast in mould. Not complete; D-cross-section. Patina, from dark green to black with light green spots, smooth, slightly corroded. One end broken.
The above-mentioned dimensions result from the autopsy by the Thesaurus Inscriptionum Raeticarum. Marchesini notes: "lungh. max. cons. 11,8 cm; largh. max. cons. 1,5 cm; largh. min. cons. 1,3 cm" (cp. Marchesini 2014: 138).
On the extant end decorations: (from right) two thin parallel indentations, one wider and deeper indentations, again two thin parallel indentations where the right one is the border for the ribbon of thin obliques.
Along an extensive inscription of which the beginning is missing because of the fracture.
The bronze rod was found during the excavations carried out in Sanzeno between 2011 and 2012. The excavations were executed by the monument protection service. The excavated zone is in the area of what is now the car park opposite the new Museo Retico Sanzeno. During these excavations the remains of "un edificio seminterrato con murature a secco" (cp. Endrizzi 2014: 128) were found. A detailed evaluation of the bronze rod related to the archaeological context is no more possible because the object was found outside the stratum and moreover in an area already destroyed due to previous interventions (cp. Endrizzi 2014: 128). However, the remains of this Raetic house must be connected with the Raetic settlement which came to light in Sanzeno during the excavations carried out by Fogolari (cp. Endrizzi 2014: 128; for the excavations of Fogolari cp. Fogolari 1960).
Due to the missing detailed archaeological context, the function of the bronze rod cannot be reliably determined. Concerning the style, in particular the style of the extant end, the bronze rod can probably be connected with objects in general used for divination such as astragaloi or sortes (for the sortes in the Fritzens-Sanzeno culture cp. Zemmer-Plank 2002). Because of the inscription, likewise a votive offering is conceivable. A reasonably similar example comes also from Sanzeno, from the same excavated area. This bronze rod is smaller and shows two perforations but the similarity in style is evident. The object is listed in Thesaurus Inscriptionum Raeticarum as SZ-96 rod.
In the recently released study about the Raetic inscriptions by Marchesini the rod is listed with "MLR 140", an autopsy was effected (cp. MLR: 154 [MLR 140]).
Autopsied by 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.
Fogolari 1960	Giulia Fogolari, "Sanzeno nell'Anaunia", in: Deputazione di Storia Patria per le Province di Romagna (Eds), Civiltà del Ferro. Studi pubblicati nella ricorrenza centenaria della scoperta di Villanova [= Documenti e studi VI], Bologna: Forni 1960, 265–321.
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.