NO·28 Dormelletto

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Object
Classification:	slab
Material:	stone
Size:
Condition:	unknown
Archaeological culture:	La Tène C
Date:	second half of 2nd century BC
Date derived from:	archaeological context
Site:	Dormelletto (Novara, Piemonte, Italy)
Archaeological context:	structure 120 (Objects: NO·27 Dormelletto, NO·28 Dormelletto)
Coordinates (approx.):	45° 43' 48.00" N, 8° 34' 22.80" E [from site]
Find date:	2006
Current location:	Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici del Piemonte (Torino)
Inscription:	NO·28 (akluśamo/ụalos/leukur/uritu)
Alternative sigla:	none
Sources:	Gambari 2007: 258 f.

Images

Slab NO·28 Dormelletto with inscription NO·28

Commentary

The fragmentary slab was found among the stones and slabs in the upper layer of filling material of the large structure no. 120; comparison with NO·27 Dormelletto suggests that it toppled over from where it stood on the structure's northern side (cf. Spagnolo Garzoli 2007: 254), but see below.

The thick formless slab was broken already in antiquity, before being inscribed (Gambari 2007: 258). From the placement of the inscription, Gambari concludes that the slab was not stood up, but displayed lying flat on the ground; he does not exclude the possibility that the slab was reused as building material for structure 120. Spagnolo Garzoli 2007: 255 interprets structure 120 as a cenotaph dedicated to ancestor worship, while Gambari 2011: 27 f. assumes that it was a ritual deposit for boundary stones of the necropolis which became obsolete when the latter was enlarged.

The only associated find which may allow a dating of the slab within the timeframe imposed by that of the necropolis (3^rd–1^st century BC) is a fibula, the only non-stone object found in the filling material of structure 120, which is dated to the middle of the 2^nd century BC. This dating agrees with that of tomb 124, which precedes structure 120 stratigraphically; the slab – unless it was reused – can accordingly be dated to the second half of the 2^nd century BC (cf. NO·27 Dormelletto).

Corinna Salomon

Bibliography

Gambari 2007	Filippo M. Gambari, "Dormelletto. I documenti epigrafici in celtico cisalpino", Quaderni della Soprintendenza Archeologica del Piemonte 22 (2007), 256–259.
Gambari 2011	Filippo Maria Gambari, "Le pietre dei signori del fiume: il cippo iscritto e le stele del primo periodo della cultura di Golasecca", in: Filippo Maria Gambari, Raffaella Cerri (eds), L'alba della città. Le prime necropoli del centro protourbano di Castelletto Ticino, Novara: 2011, 19–32.