TI·54 Sonvico

edit with form

Object
Classification:	stela
Material:	stone
Size:	length 48 cm, breadth 27 cm, width 10.5 cm
Condition:	fragmentary
Archaeological culture:	unknown
Date:	unknown
Site:
Archaeological context:	stray find
Coordinates (approx.):	46° 3' 9.21" N, 8° 59' 6.75" E
Find date:	2007
Find circumstances:	restauration work
Finder:	Danila Nova-Toscanelli, Arnoldo Ghirlanda-Lepori
Current location:	Ufficio Cantonale dei Beni Culturali (Bellinzona)
Inventory no.:	232.2007.1
Inscription:	TI·54 (]uikalai)
Alternative sigla:	none
Sources:	Dell'Era 2018: 151 f.

Images

Stela TI·54 Sonvico with inscription TI·54

Commentary

Images in Dell'Era 2018: 153, fig. 1 (photo) and fig. 2 (drawing).

The fragment of a stela was found built into a wall of the Villa Elena in Dino during preparations for the building's renovation. It is possible, but not certain that it was originally unearthed at the site of the Villa during its construction in 1888.

Representing the upper part of a stela of mica schist, the fragment shows that the stela bore a stylised human shape formed of two parallel vertical lines ending in a circle, with an inscription between the two lines, as known from many other Cisalpine Celtic funerary monuments. See Dell'Era 2018: 154 on different typologies.

Corinna Salomon

Bibliography

Dell’Era 2018	Romeo Dell'Era, "Una stele con iscrizione celtica individuata a Dino (Lugano, Canton Ticino)", Quaderni Ticinesi di Numismatica e Antichità Classiche 47 (2018), 151–157.