NO·26
| Inscription | |
|---|---|
| Reading in transliteration: | ]ạuśi |
| Reading in original script: |     [
|
|
| |
| Object: | NO·26 Castelletto sopra Ticino (unidentifiable) |
| Position: | inside |
| Direction of writing: | sinistroverse |
| Script: | North Italic script |
| Number of letters: | 4 |
| Number of words: | 1 |
| Number of lines: | 1 |
| Workmanship: | scratched after firing |
| Condition: | fragmentary |
|
| |
| Archaeological culture: | Golasecca II [from object] |
| Date of inscription: | 6th c. BC [from object] |
|
| |
| Type: | unknown |
| Language: | perhaps Celtic |
| Meaning: | unknown |
|
| |
| Alternative sigla: | none |
|
| |
| Sources: | Morandi 2004: 570 |
Images
 Drawing of inscription NO·26 from Morandi 2004
|
Commentary
Images in Gambari 2001b: 17, fig. 5 (drawing), Morandi 2004: 576, fig. 13a (drawing).
Inscribed on what appears to be the inside of the lid. Mentioned by Morandi as a sidenote to NO·1, as an example for a gentive form in -ī in an archaic inscription. Morandi cites the reading ]auśi given by Gambari 2001b: 17 without comment, though he examined the object himself; his drawing shows the same emendation as Gambari's of the fragmentary inscription to alauśi, which is interpreted by Gambari as '(sauce made) of alewife' (Gaul. alausa, DLG: 37). Notwithstanding Gambari's remarks concerning the prominence of fish in the diet of the inhabitants of Castelletto sopra Ticino in the 6th century (p. 14), this interpretation can be discarded for multiple reasons, including, beside the groundlessness of the emendation, the problematic identification of san and its even more problematic equation with s. Stifter 2024b: 134 alternatively reads ]ạumi, apparently with Latinised mu, which is unlikely considering the dating, but the letter in question does not look like Lepontic butterfly san – a proto-form?
Bibliography
| DLG | Xavier Delamarre, Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise. Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental, 2nd, revised edition, Paris: Errance 2003. |
|---|---|
| Gambari 2001b | Filippo Maria Gambari, "Da Castelletto Ticino a Novaria: l'Ovest Ticino in età preromana", in: Filippo Maria Gambari (ed.), La birra e il fiume. Pombia e le vie dell'Ovest Ticino tra VI e V secolo a.C., Torino: 2001, 11–18. |
