TI·45.1
| Inscription | |
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| Reading in transliteration: | ]ẹ?ẹ[ ]alui : pala |
| Reading in original script: |        [ ] ?[
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| Object: | TI·45 Bioggio (stela) (Inscriptions: TI·45.1, TI·45.2) |
| Position: | front, centre |
| Orientation: | 270° |
| Frame: |    (left: head, middle: top and bottom, right: feet)
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| Direction of writing: | sinistroverse |
| Script: | North Italic script (Lepontic alphabet) |
| Letter height: | 13–14 cm5.118 in <br />5.512 in <br /> |
| Number of letters: | 15 |
| Number of words: | 3 |
| Number of lines: | 1 |
| Workmanship: | carved |
| Condition: | damaged |
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| Archaeological culture: | Golasecca III A, La Tène B, La Tène C |
| Date of inscription: | 5th–mid-2rd c. BC |
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| Type: | funerary |
| Language: | Celtic |
| Meaning: | 'pala for ... son of ...' |
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| Alternative sigla: | Morandi 2004: 302 A |
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| Sources: | Morandi 2004: 719 no. 302 A |
Images
 Inscriptions TI·45.1 and TI·45.2 from Morandi
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 Stela TI·45 Bioggio with inscriptions TI·45.1 and TI·45.2 from Morandi
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 Inscriptions TI·45.1 and TI·45.2 from Solinas
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 Stela TI·45 Bioggio with inscriptions TI·45.1 and TI·45.2
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Commentary
First published in Solinas 2002: 486 f., no. 2 A. Examined for LexLep on 19th October 2023.
Images in Solinas 2002: 486 (drawing), Morandi 2004: 720, fig. 39.302 (drawing) and 811, tav. XXXIV.302 (photo).
Inscribed running from the bottom toward the top (length 147.5 cm) between frame lines with stylised head and feet (and eyes according to Piana Agostinetti 2004: 170; frame width 13.5–16 cm, length of frame 167 cm). The inscription is applied in the centre of the stela's front face, indicating that it was written first, while TI·45.2 in a smaller frame to the left was added secondarily. The close association of the two frames, sharing one frame line and the smaller one's head being fitted into the longer one's neck, suggests that the inscriptions are associated; cf. TI·36.1/TI·36.2.
The letters are heavily abraded especially in the lower part; apart from final pala and preceding -ūi̯, the readings of Solinas (---]ẹ-ei:-eralui:pala) and Morandi ([---]exexx [ ] Ṭi[---]asui:pala) differ considerably, even the two epsilons in the first half of the inscription being identified in different places (cf. the drawings). In autopsy, the epsilons as placed in Solinas' drawing could be confirmed as at least possible. No letters or separators were identifiable before the sequence alui, though the lower part of Solinas' rho is visible – possibly lambda ?. The inscription does appear to contain the standard text formula of Ticino gravestones with the name of the deceased in the dative, patronym in -al- and pala. Solinas' sequence ei: would fit well as the ending of an on- or i-stem personal name (-onei or -ei). The space between the beginning of the frame and this putative ending is quite big with ca. 60 cm; how many letters this would have fit is difficult to judge, as the letters in the inscription are of uneven width and get smaller toward the end due to lack of space.
Dating based on the shape of the anthropomorphic frame according to the typology of De Marinis & Motta 1991: 206 (type B or C?).
Bibliography
| De Marinis & Motta 1991 | Raffaele C. De Marinis, Filippo Motta, "Una nuova iscrizione lepontica su pietra da Mezzovico (Lugano)", Sibrium 21 (1990–1991), 201–225. |
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