VB·22 Stresa

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Object
Classification:	stela
Material:	stone
Size:	height 48.5–59 cm, width 52–56.5 cm, thickness 4–6.5 cm
Condition:	fragmentary
Autopsy by:	Corinna Salomon
Date of autopsy:	Apr 20 2024
Archaeological culture:	La Tène D 2
Date:	1st c. BC
Date derived from:	typology, archaeological context
Site:	Stresa (Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Piemonte, Italy)
Field name:	Brisino
Archaeological context:	medieval tomb (Objects: VB·22 Stresa, VB·23 Stresa, VB·24 Stresa, VB·25 Stresa)
Coordinates (approx.):	45° 52' 5.77" N, 8° 33' 33.42" E
Find date:	1975
Current location:	Museo Civico Antiquarium (Mergozzo)
Inventory no.:	none
Inscription:	VB·22 (aśkonetio/pianu)
Alternative sigla:	Tibiletti Bruno 1981: 14 Solinas 1995: 120 Morandi 2004: 65
Sources:	Morandi 2004: 563 f. no. 65

Images

Gravestone from Bee with Latin inscription

Stela VB·22 Stresa with inscription VB·22 from De Giuli 1979

Stela VB·22 Stresa with inscription VB·22

Commentary

Images in De Giuli 1978: 16 (photo = De Giuli 1979: 246, fig. 1 = Mainardis 2009: 337, fig. 5), Piana Agostinetti 2004: 200, fig. 10.61 (drawing).

Fragment (upper part) of a mica schist stela, found in secondary context together with VB·23 Stresa, VB·24 Stresa, VB·25 Stresa; see Brisino for the find circumstances and context. According to Piana Agostinetti 2004: 199, the straight edge (usually displayed as the lower one and currently covered by a metal support) is worked and smoothed and constitutes the top of the stela, while the oblique edge is where the stone broke. The original shape/size of the stone is unclear, but was similar to that of VB·23 Stresa and different from that of the stelae with Latin inscriptions from Brisino (VB·24 Stresa, VB·25 Stresa) and both epichoric and Latin documents from Levo. De Giuli 1979: 251 mentions the possibility that the Brisino stones may come from the same site as the finds in Levo, though it seems quite possible that a pre-Roman/Roman necropolis existed in Brisino in the area of the Chiesa di Sant'Albino. Among the Stresa gravestones, the present object and VB·23 Stresa have the most archaic shape and may thus represent the oldest layer. It must be pointed out, however, that the gravestones from the Verbano cannot be marshalled into a clear chronological order, as factors like stone shape, frames, writing direction, letter forms and language/text formula appear in almost free combination. Mainardis 2009: 337 f. correctly points out that one stonemason/workshop would be able to produce stelae according to more traditional or modern tastes all dating to roughly the same time. As a case in point, the gravestone from Bee (Lanza & Poletti Ecclesia 2021) has a shape similar to that of VB·22 Stresa and VB·23 Stresa, but bears a Latin inscription dated to the early 1^st c. AD. Morandi's dating to the late 2^nd c. BC in any case seems too early; the 1^st c. BC is also given by Tibiletti Bruno 1979: 254. See also Caramella & De Giuli 1993: 207.

Corinna Salomon

Bibliography

Caramella & De Giuli 1993	Pierangelo Caramella, Alberto De Giuli, Archeologia dell'Alto Novarese, Mergozzo: Antiquarium Mergozzo 1993.
De Giuli 1978	Alberto De Giuli, "Le stele funerarie di Brisino", Bollettino Storico per la Provincia di Novara 69/1 (1978), 13–20.
De Giuli 1979	Alberto De Giuli, "Le stele funerarie di Brisino", Sibrium 14 (1978–1979), 245–252.