PV·1
| Inscription | |
|---|---|
| Reading in transliteration: | esopnos kepi |
| Reading in original script: |         
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| Object: | PV·1 Garlasco (bottle) |
| Position: | shoulder, outside |
| Orientation: | 0° |
| Direction of writing: | sinistroverse |
| Script: | North Italic script (Lepontic alphabet) |
| Letter height: | 0.8–1.5 cm0.315 in <br />0.591 in <br /> |
| Number of letters: | 11 |
| Number of words: | 2 |
| Number of lines: | 1 |
| Workmanship: | scratched after firing |
| Condition: | complete |
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| Archaeological culture: | unknown [from object] |
| Date of inscription: | late 2nd c. BC [from object] |
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| Type: | unknown |
| Language: | Celtic |
| Meaning: | 'Esopnos son of Kep(i)os' |
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| Alternative sigla: | Tibiletti Bruno 1981: 32 Solinas 1995: 110 Morandi 2004: 101 |
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| Sources: | Morandi 2004: 591 no. 101 |
Images
 Drawing of inscription PV·1 from Morandi 2004
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Commentary
First published in Pellegrini 1963.
Images in Pellegrini 1963: 302, fig. 1 (photo = RIG II: 40, fig. 18) and 303, fig. 2 (drawing = RIG II: 40, fig. 19), Piana Agostinetti 1997–1999 III: 468, fig. 28 (drawing), Morandi 2004: 593, fig. 15.101 (drawing).
Inscribed in neat letters above a line running around the flask's shoulder (length 7.5 cm). There may be a space after esopnos, but the last four letters are generally more spaced out (cf. RIG II: 40).
Following Pellegrini, the text is generally interpreted as a name formula with a Celtic individual name esopnos and possibly Celtic genitival patronym kepi (Lejeune 1971: 406, 408, Tibiletti Bruno 1975: 54, Tibiletti Bruno 1978: 148, 153, Tibiletti Bruno 1981: 187, no. 32, RIG II: 40, Solinas 1994: 367, no. 110, Morandi). See the word pages for comparanda and etymologies. Considering the ambiguous spacing, one might separate esopno (with lost final -s) from a patronym skepi, but the latter finds no better comparanda than kepi.
The inscription is included among the six Cisalpine Gaulish documents in RIG II as E-4.
