BG·33
| Inscription | |
|---|---|
| Reading in transliteration: | pe |
| Reading in original script: |  
|
|
| |
| Object: | BG·33 Verdello (pitcher) |
| Position: | outside, wall |
| Orientation: | 0° |
| Direction of writing: | dextroverse |
| Script: | unknown |
| Number of letters: | 2 |
| Number of words: | 1 |
| Number of lines: | 1 |
| Workmanship: | scratched after firing |
| Condition: | complete, damaged |
|
| |
| Archaeological culture: | La Tène D 2 [from object] |
| Date of inscription: | second half of 1st c. BC [from object] |
|
| |
| Type: | unknown |
| Language: | perhaps Celtic |
| Meaning: | abbreviation (?) |
|
| |
| Alternative sigla: | Morandi 2004: 290 |
|
| |
| Sources: | Morandi 2004: 713 no. 290 |
Commentary
First published in Morandi 2003: 128, no. 6.
Images in Morandi 2003: 128, fig. 7 (photo) and 129 (drawing).
Inscribed on the wall of the vessel where it is widest. The forms of both letters are unusual: pi has a curved bar, epsilon has straight bars clustered together in the middle of the hasta. Morandi 2003 notes that epsilon possibly has four bars. It is not clear whether the alphabet used here should be classified as North Italic; the letters are not Latin, but Latin influence is likely. The uncommon forms may be the reason for the dating to the Augustan period given in Morandi 2004. Unless the bar of the first letter is merely a slip of the tool, an alternative reading of this letter as lambda, as otherwise possible for pi with the bar on top when the linguistic interpretation of an inscription is uncertain, can be excluded. Possibly an abbreviation of a personal name (Morandi, also 2007: 300, no. 29); see the word page on the other instances of the sequence in the area of Bergamo.
