CO·21

edit with form

Inscription
Reading in transliteration:	]ṇ : ṣulọiḳei : [
Reading in original script:	][
Object:	CO·21 Rondineto (slab)
Position:	front
Frame:	??  (left: unknown, middle: top and bottom, right: unknown)
Direction of writing:	sinistroverse
Script:	North Italic script (Lepontic alphabet)
Letter height:	5–6 cm1.969 in <br />2.362 in <br />
Number of letters:	9
Number of words:	2
Number of lines:	1
Workmanship:	carved
Condition:	fragmentary
Archaeological culture:	unknown [from object]
Date of inscription:	unknown [from object]
Type:	unknown
Language:	Celtic
Meaning:	'... to/for Suloikis ...' (?)
Alternative sigla:	Whatmough 1933 (PID): 299 Tibiletti Bruno 1981: 24 Solinas 1995: 75 Morandi 2004: 168
Sources:	Morandi 2004: 632 f.

Images

Drawing of inscription CO·21 from Morandi 2004

Slab CO·21 Rondineto with inscription CO·21 from Morandi 2004

Drawing of inscription CO·21 from Rittatore Vonwiller 1968

Drawing of inscription CO·21 from Solinas 1995

Slab CO·21 Rondineto with inscription CO·21 from Tibiletti Bruno 1969b

Commentary

Images in Garovaglio 1879: tav. II g, Rittatore Vonwiller 1968: 472 (drawing), Tibiletti Bruno 1969b: 287, tav. XV.38 (photo = Morandi 2004: 801, tav. XXIV.168), Tibiletti Bruno 1990b: 81 (drawing), Solinas 1995: 348 (drawing), Morandi 2004: 634, fig. 21.168 (drawing).

A line of text inscribed on one side of the fragment; certainly incomplete in the beginning, but maybe not at the end; line height 5 cm, space above 6 cm, space below max. 4 cm (Tibiletti Bruno 1966b: 283 f.). Giussani 1902: 45 f., no. 15 critical of Garovaglio's drawing, but had no better ideas after an examination. Whatmough PID: 103, no. 299, based on G.'s drawing, read ]? : ụioike :[; Conway (Addenda, 630) during autopsy saw two lines, but identified letters only in the lower one: ]? : t??oik?e :[, with the two consecutive questions marks probably ui. After the finding of the Prestino inscription, the documents' similarities, viz. the dimensions of the stone and layout of the inscription, were noted by Tibiletti Bruno 1966b: 283 f. and, after the stone was noticed in the museum by Paolo Maggi, Rittatore Vonwiller 1968: 471 (see also Ferri 1967). Reading ]ṃ or ]ṇ : suloikei :[ from Tibiletti Bruno 1969b: 213–216, no. 38 (also Tibiletti Bruno 1978: 147), no line above, and no frame lines (though it cannot be completely excluded that they are weathered and not visible among the natural striations of the stone), last separator may mark the end of the text; not contemporaneous with Prestino because of minor differences in letter forms (also Tibiletti Bruno 1966b: 283 f., Tibiletti Bruno 1990b: 91, 78–85, 105, Tibiletti Bruno 1981: 181 f., no. 24 further on comparison with Prestino). Morandi: somewhat younger than Prestino, palaeographical dating to the 5^th/4^th century BC.

Bibliography

Ferri 1967	Silvio Ferri, "Esigenze Archeologiche VIII", Studi Orientali e Classici 16 (1967), 431-432.
Garovaglio 1879	Alfonso Garovaglio, "Rondineto, altre scoperte", Rivista Archeologica della Provincia di Como 15 (1879), 18-21.