NO·23
| Inscription | |
|---|---|
| Reading in transliteration: | ḳlaukos |
| Reading in original script: |      
|
|
| |
| Object: | NO·23 Cerano (bowl) |
| Position: | bottom, outside |
| Orientation: | 180° |
| Direction of writing: | dextroverse |
| Script: | North Italic script (Lepontic alphabet) |
| adapted to: | Latin script |
| Letter height: | 0.5–0.7 cm0.197 in <br />0.276 in <br /> |
| Number of letters: | 7 |
| Number of words: | 1 |
| Number of lines: | 1 |
| Workmanship: | scratched after firing |
| Condition: | complete, damaged |
|
| |
| Archaeological culture: | La Tène D [from object] |
| Date of inscription: | 1st c. BC [from object] |
|
| |
| Type: | unknown |
| Language: | prob. Celtic |
| Meaning: | 'Klaukos' |
|
| |
| Alternative sigla: | Morandi 2004: 98 |
|
| |
| Sources: | Morandi 2004: 587 |
Commentary
First published in Spagnolo Garzoli 1991: 16. Examined for LexLep on 24th April 2024.
Inscribed upside-down on the bottom of the patera near the rim of the foot. A break damages alpha and upsilon in the upper area; a piece of the surface where the upper halves of initial kappa and lambda were has chipped off. Kappa with short bars and angular omicron are stylistically Lepontic letters, while lambda with a straight bar and alpha are Latin; upsilon and sigma are ambiguous.
Spagnolo Garzoli read klaukos, but Gambari 1999: 390 ad no. 12 asserts that the first letter is to be read as alpha rather than kappa to get a comparandum for NO·16 alauki at Oleggio. He overlooks that alpha has the Latin cursive shape in the inscription; unless we want to assume that the writer mixed different forms of the same letter, kappa as in the fifth letter is the only plausible option for the first letter (pi 
would be too short). The name klaukos does not appear to be etymologically Celtic; see further on the word page.
