NO·1

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Inscription
Reading in transliteration:	§χosioiso §
Reading in original script:
Object:	NO·1 Castelletto sopra Ticino (beaker)
Position:	neck, outside
Orientation:	0°
Direction of writing:	sinistroverse
Script:	North Italic script (Lepontic alphabet)
Letter height:	0.6–1.5 cm0.236 in <br />0.591 in <br />
Number of letters:	8
Number of words:	1
Number of lines:	1
Workmanship:	scratched after firing
Condition:	complete
Archaeological culture:	Golasecca II A [from object]
Date of inscription:	second quarter of 6th c. BC [from object]
Type:	prob. mark of possessor
Language:	Celtic
Meaning:	'of Xosios'
Alternative sigla:	Solinas 1995: 113 bis Morandi 2004: 74
Sources:	Morandi 2004: 569 f. no. 74

Images

Inscription NO·1 from Gambari & Colonna 1988	Photo of beaker NO·1 Castelletto sopra Ticino with symbol from Gambari & Colonna 1988	First part of inscription NO·1 from Morandi 2004	Second part of inscription NO·1 from Morandi 2004	Beaker NO·1 Castelletto sopra Ticino with inscription NO·1
Zig-zag line before inscription NO·1	First part of inscription NO·1	Second part of inscription NO·1	Symbol after inscription NO·1	Inscription NO·1

Commentary

First published in Gambari & Colonna 1988: 130–132.

Images in Gambari & Colonna 1988: 130, fig. 8 (drawing).

The symbol on the left (height 2 cm) has the shape of an upward-pointing arrow with an extra branch on the right. It is 2.3 cm distant from the longer sequence, incised more roughly than the letters and resembles non-script marks on similar beakers (cf. VA·32 and the mark on the beaker Coll. Castelfranco 215 mentioned there); it is unlikely to have any direct relation to the language-encoding inscription. The zig-zag-band before the text, on the other hand, connects directly to the upper end of the first letter chi and looks like it belongs to the inscription. According to Gambari & Colonna 1988: 131, n. 49, similar ornament bands before or following inscriptions are known also from Greek and Etruscan contexts (cf. also Morandi 1999: 153 and TI·1).

See also Prosdocimi 1991: 142-144, Motta 1992: 312 f., Lejeune 1990: 69 f., Morandi 1999: 153-156, Solinas 1995: 369, no. 113 bis.

Bibliography

Gambari & Colonna 1988	Filippo Maria Gambari, Giovanni Colonna, "Il bicchiere con iscrizione arcaica da Castelletto Ticino e l'adozione della scrittura nell'Italia nord-occidentale", Studi Etruschi 54 (1986 [1988]), 119–164.
Gambari 2004	Filippo Maria Gambari, "I signori del commercio sulle vie d'acqua. Il ruolo degli scambi nella cultura di Golasecca", in: Franco Marzatico, Paul Gleirscher (eds), Guerrieri, principi ed eroi fra il Danubio e il Po dalla preistoria all'alto medioevo, Trento: Castello del Buonconsiglio 2004, 304–313.
Gambari 2018	Filippo M. Gambari, "Un alfabeto antico per lingue nuove. Le prime attestazioni delle lingue celtiche nelle epigrafi preromane della lombardia occidentale", in: Cristina Miedico (ed.), Le voci degli altri. Linguaggi, parole e alfabeti inconsueti nella Lombardia antica, Angera: 2018, 31–41.