MI·24

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Inscription
Reading in transliteration:	kituaretos?
Reading in original script:	?
Object:	MI·24 Milano (bowl)
Position:	foot, outside
Direction of writing:	sinistroverse
Script:	North Italic script (Lepontic alphabet)
Letter height:	0.9–1.9 cm0.354 in <br />0.748 in <br />
Number of letters:	10–11
Number of words:	1
Number of lines:	1
Workmanship:	scratched after firing
Condition:	complete
Archaeological culture:	La Tène C 1, La Tène D [from object]
Date of inscription:	mid-3rd–1st c. BC [from object]
Type:	unknown
Language:	Celtic
Meaning:	'Kituaretos'
Alternative sigla:	none
Sources:	Casini & Motta 2011: 465–467

Images

Fragmentary bowl MI·24 Milano with inscription MI·24

Inscription MI·24

Commentary

First published in Casini & Motta 2011: 465–467, no. 6. Examined for LexLep on 26^th April 2022.

Images in Casini & Motta 2011: 466, fig. 5 (drawing and photo).

Inscribed on the foot of the bowl along the rim, the top of the letters pointing outward (length ca. 6 cm). The letters are largely undamaged and unambiguous, though the writer struggled with omicron. After final sigma follows another clearly intentional mark consisting of two curved vertical lines which converge at top and bottom (see the images); the space in between the scratches seems to have also been scratched off a little. The mark does not particularly look like any letter (omicron at most), and none would be expected after the ending -os. Casini & Motta suggest a punctuation mark. Whatever the function of this element, kituaretos is a compound personal name which finds a comparandum in Galatia, though the morphemic analysis is not quite clear (see the word page). The first element is kintu-, with n not spelled in the cluster nt as typical for the Lepontic alphabet.

Corinna Salomon

Bibliography

Casini & Motta 2011	Stefania Casini, Filippo Motta, "Alcune iscrizioni preromane inedite da Milano", Notizie Archeologiche Bergomensi 19 (2011), 459–469.