Pre-Roman Alphabets of Ancient Italy

Le iscrizioni preromane

by Angelo Martinotti

published in U. SANSONI, S. GAVALDO (a cura di), Lucus rupestris. Sei millenni d’arte rupestre a Campanine di Cimbergo, “Archivi” vol. 18, Edizioni del Centro, Capo di Ponte 2009, pp. 324-337.

Berzo Demo (BS), loc. Loa: nuovi dati sui rapporti fra scrittura e incisioni rupestri nella preistoria camuna

by Alberto Marretta

(Italian). Co-authored with S. Solano. Published as Solano, S., & Marretta, A. (2006). Berzo Demo (BS), loc. Loa: nuovi dati sui rapporti fra scrittura e incisioni rupestri nella preistoria camuna. In A. Pessina & P. Visentini (Eds.), “Preistoria dell’Italia Settentrionale. Studi in ricordo di Bernardino Bagolini”, Atti del Convegno - Udine, 23-24 Settembre 2005 (pp. 609-614). Udine: Museo Friulano di Storia Naturale.

Berzo Demo (Brescia), Loa: new data for the relationship between rock engravings and writing in prehistoric... more Berzo Demo (Brescia), Loa: new data for the relationship between rock engravings and writing in prehistoric Valcamonica. Berzo Demo’s engravings, in middle Valcamonica, show an extraordinarily high concentration of pre-roman character inscriptions, and highly schematic spear-like figures. While the former is certainly dated in the late Iron age, the latter is usually dated in the Bronze age, due to type and style considerations: their close association strengthens the case for a revision of camunian engravings’ general chronology.

Pagine di Pietra: iscrizioni e raffigurazioni a Berzo-Demo, loc. Loa (Valcamonica)

by Alberto Marretta

(Italian). Co-authored with Serena Solano, published in E. Anati (Ed.), Valcamonica Symposium 2009: fare Storia dalla Preistoria. Capo di Ponte 28-2 novembre 2009 (preatti) (pp. 324-335). Capo di Ponte: Edizioni del Centro.

The complete study of the area with stone carvings of Loa (Berzo Demo, Valcamonica), conducted between 2004 and 2009,... more The complete study of the area with stone carvings of Loa (Berzo Demo, Valcamonica), conducted between 2004 and 2009, has highlighted four richly engraved rocks and the biggest concentration of protohistoric alphabetic inscriptions made on bedrock known to date in Valcamonica rock art (about 80 entries, including almost 60 on rock n. 3). The inscriptions, produced by scratching the rocks in a variant of the Camunian alphabet which can also be recognized inside the not distant inscriptions of Dos Curù (Cevo), are included in a rich context of representations handcrafted using techniques ranging from polissoir, scratching and, finally, pecking: dozens of spear and spearheads (in close connection with the inscriptions), a knife of Introbio type, warriors, huts and, above all, pairs of pecked human figures dueling without weapons and showing a clear overlap with the inscriptions. The proposed chronology puts the whole imagery in Late Iron Age and Roman period, bringing important new data for understanding the role played by the alphabetic writing in Valcamonica rock art and pushing for a revision of the stylistic asset so far suggested for Valcamonica Iron Age. The relationship with the ancient nearby village of Berzo Demo, frequented between the Late Iron Age and the first Roman period, suggest that the above area of Loa can be interpreted as the pertinent “outdoor sanctuary” within which the learning or the practice of alphabetic writing played a central role inside the engraving activity.

La scrittura dei principi etruschi

by Daniele Federico Maras

In A. Mandolesi, M. Sannibale (eds.), Etruschi. L'ideale eroico e il vino lucente (Cat. of the exhibition, Asti, March-July 2012), Milan 2012, pp. 103-109

Skerfs

by Daniele Federico Maras

In G. Rocca (ed.), Le lingue dell'Italia antica. Iscrizioni, testi, grammatica / Die Sprachen Altitaliens. Inschriften, Texten, Grammatik (Proceedings of the International Congress in memoriam Helmut Rix, Milan, March 7th-8th, 2011), Alessandria, 5, 2011, pp. 185-197

Two Pre-Roman Alphabets of Northern Italy: Venetic and Raetic

by Dorjana Širola

Doctoral dissertation, University of Oxford, 2005.

History of Italian Culture (a project with Luca Cavalli-Sforza)

by Emanuele Serrelli

Serrelli E (2007). Popoli, nomi e nominatori: un dizionario del popolamento. Introduction to E. Serrelli, C.B. Serrelli, Dizionario del popolamento dell’Italia prima della romanizzazione, unpublished.

From 2003 to 2006 Emanuele Serrelli worked in the research project "History of Italian Culture", directed by... more From 2003 to 2006 Emanuele Serrelli worked in the research project "History of Italian Culture", directed by prof. Luigi Luca Cavalli Sforza. The research, in collaboration with Italian museums and other institutions, yielded the publication Dizionario del popolamento dell'Italia prima della romanizzazione (by E. Serrelli and C.B. Serrelli). Its main access points are the initial synoptic maps in which the major incoming migrations or "arrivals" are shown, with specification of dates and main names that emerged in these movements. From such maps one can delve into the dictionary in search for details.

In november 2003 prof. Luigi Luca Cavalli Sforza asked Telmo Pievani and Emanuele Serrelli (who in turn involved Claudio Bruno Serrelli) to deal with population processes before the advent of ancient Romans. The request was a list of names of peoples, with the related occupied territories and temporal range. Fortunately, Italy is a name with a precise and unambiguous geographic extent: the Alps and the sea define its identity and ease the study of peoples following one another. The Romanization of Italy, carried on both for direct annexation and colony creations, begins after the "latin war" of 340-338 B.C., and ends with the "social war" of 90-88 B.C., last desperate attempt of Italic peoples to oppose Rome's the expansive process.
First of all, then, it was necessary to know peoples, those analogues to biological populations that are needed to talk about evolution...
The maps give access to the details in the Dictionary. So, for example, it will be possible to enter the world of Reto-euganei. There will be found a more detailed map of populations or tribes that formed them in III Century, and appreciate the preceding "compression" effect operated by the arrival of Veneti people in X Century.

Materiali arcaici dalla collezione Dionigi di Lanuvio ed il più antico alfabetario latino

by Daniele Federico Maras

Co-authored with L. Attenni.
Published in Studi Etruschi, LXX, 2004, pp. 68-78.

[Archaic material from the Dionigi collection in Lanuvio and the earliest Latin abecedarium] [Archaic material from the Dionigi collection in Lanuvio and the earliest Latin abecedarium]

Considerazioni sull’intervento “Alfabeti greci e alfabeti etruschi”

by Daniele Federico Maras

Published in Annali della Fondazione per il Museo C. Faina di Orvieto XI, 2004, pp. 306-308.

Tra sillabe e alfabeti. I «meccanismi» della scrittura

by Vermondo Brugnatelli

in: F. Cordano - G. Bagnasco (a cura di), "Scritture mediterranee tra il IX e il VII secolo a.C." -Atti del seminario (Milano 23-24 febbraio 1998), Milano, ed. Et, 1999, pp. 17-26.

[Paper in Italian]
Linguistic considerations about the origin of writing systems. Despite the apparent simplicity... more [Paper in Italian]
Linguistic considerations about the origin of writing systems. Despite the apparent simplicity of alphabets, where each sign corresponds to a phoneme, syllabic systems seem more "natural". As a matter of fact, even the most ancient "alphabets" were probably conceived as "syllabic systems".

Tifinaɣ e alfabeto etrusco-venetico. A proposito della concezione alfabetica della scrittura

by Vermondo Brugnatelli

in: P. Filigheddu (a cura di) "Circolazioni culturali nel Mediterraneo antico (Sassari 24-27.4.1991)", Cagliari: Corda 1994, 47-53

A typological comparison between the Berber Tifinaɣ alphabet and other "alphabetic systems" (namely the... more A typological comparison between the Berber Tifinaɣ alphabet and other "alphabetic systems" (namely the Northwest Semitic "alphabet" and its offsprings, Greek, Etruscan, Venetic, as well as the writing of the Isbet Sertah ostrakon). The prevailing "syllabic" conception underlying such writing systems is evinced by some devices like the "compound" signs in Tifinaɣ and the "punctuation" in Etruscan and Venetic alphabets.

Gli dei sul tetto. Le basi acroteriali del tempio di Veio - Portonaccio: messa in opera e funzione

by Daniele Federico Maras

Published in P. LULOF, C. RESCIGNO (a cura di), Architectural Terracottas in Ancient Italy. Images of Gods, Monsters and Heroes, Proceedings of the 4th International Congress (Rome-Syracuse, 2009), Deliciae Fictiles IV, Oxford 2010, pp. 107-114.
The paper is in connection with two others by Laura M. Michetti and Claudia Carlucci in the same volume.

[Gods on the Roof. The acrotherial bases of the Temple of Veii - Portonaccio: installation and function]

Il... more [Gods on the Roof. The acrotherial bases of the Temple of Veii - Portonaccio: installation and function]

Il tempio di Apollo a Veio costituisce il primo e finora unico esempio in Etruria di edificio sacro decorato lungo tutto il columen e le falde del tetto da una serie di statue acroteriali di dimensioni superiori al vero disposte per gruppi a comporre diverse scene del mito greco.
Lo studio minuzioso dell’intero apparato decorativo, in parte molto frammentario, ha permesso di accertare la funzione delle monumentali basi di sostegno certamente pertinenti alle stesse statue acroteriali, più numerose di quanto già noto in letteratura.
Il tetto risulta così incredibilmente affollato di divinità, eroi, animali fantastici a comporre un complesso programma figurativo i cui molteplici messaggi sono certamente connessi ai singoli episodi
del mito rappresentati.
Immediato è il richiamo a quanto conosciamo dalle fonti letterarie e iconografiche del Tempio di Giove Capitolino a Roma, pure animato sul tetto dalla famosa quadriga e da altre statue acroteriali, una cui eco è visibile in ambito laziale nel più tardo tempio di Satricum.

Interferenze culturali arcaiche etrusco-latine: la scrittura

by Daniele Federico Maras

Published in Annali della Fondazione per il Museo C. Faina di Orvieto XVI, 2009, pp. 309-331.

This short paper has been presented at a congress in Orvieto in 2008 and resumes somehow the results of the whole... more This short paper has been presented at a congress in Orvieto in 2008 and resumes somehow the results of the whole course of studies, as it derives from the comparison between Latin and south-Etruscan writing systems (specifically those used in Caere and Veii).
The new research on Latin archaic writing has been carried on by means of a new innovatory method of classification of alphabetic signs, based upon a graphic representation of associations of different sings in each inscription (similar to the incidence matrix in mathematics). From this method of representation derives a seriation system of inscriptions, which highlights the evolution of writing and the different phases of appearance/disappearance of alphabetic signs.
The work has been completed systematically on the entire corpus of Latin inscriptions since the 7th till the 5th century and allowed to recognize some trends in the use of writing in archaic Latium and to define specific features of Roman archaic writing system. Finally, the comparison with Veian and Caeretan alphabets during the 6th and 5th century allows the historical reconstruction of Etruscan influence on Roman culture in the last monarchical and the early republican period.

Novità sulla diffusione dell’alfabeto latino nel Lazio arcaico

by Daniele Federico Maras

Published in F. MANNINO, M. MANNINO, D.F. MARAS (eds.), Theodor Mommsen e il Lazio antico, Proceedings of the Study Day (Terracina, April 3rd, 2004), Rome 2009, pp. 105-118.

[New achievements on the spread of Latin alphabet in archaic Latium] [New achievements on the spread of Latin alphabet in archaic Latium]

Caratteri dell’epigrafia latina arcaica del Lazio meridionale

by Daniele Federico Maras

Published in L. DRAGO TROCCOLI (ed.), Il Lazio dai Colli Albani ai Monti Lepini tra preistoria ed età moderna, Rome 2009, pp. 431-439.

[Features of archaic Latin epigraphy in southern Latium] [Features of archaic Latin epigraphy in southern Latium]

Ostiala Gallenia: Funerary Commemoration and Cultural Identity in North-East Italy

by Kathryn Lomas

in I. Lemos, F. Lo Schiavo, L. Vagnetti, E. Herring, R. Whitehouse and J.B. Wilkins (eds), Across Frontiers. Papers in honour of David Ridgway and Francesca R. Serra Ridgway:  429-440. London: Accordia Research Institute. (2006)

Script obsolescence, writing and power in pre-Roman and early Roman Italy

by Kathryn Lomas

in J. Baines, J. Bennet and S. Houston (eds) The Disappearance of Writing Systems: perspectives on Literacy and Communication: 109-138. London: Equinox Publishing (2008).

Pre-Roman Italy had a large number of different scripts and strong and diverse traditions of literacy in the various... more Pre-Roman Italy had a large number of different scripts and strong and diverse traditions of literacy in the various non-Roman languages. The disappearance of these scripts and the languages with which they are associated forms part of the wider process of cultural change following the Roman conquest. However, it is clear that the disappearance of non-Roman scripts and non-Roman language were two different processes. This paper reviews the evidence for the disappearance of pre-Roman scripts and epigraphic traditions, and examines the significance of scripts as a marker of cultural identities in Italy.

Writing boundaries: Literacy and state identities in the ancient Veneto

by Kathryn Lomas

in K. Lomas, R. Whitehouse and J. Wilkins (eds) Literacy and the State in the Ancient Mediterranean: 149-70. London, Accordia Research Institute (2007)

Inscriptions from the Veneto show a high degree of variation between the major centres of the region in both scripts... more Inscriptions from the Veneto show a high degree of variation between the major centres of the region in both scripts and epigraphic habit. The types of inscription written and the contexts in which they were displayed vary between Este, Padua, Altino and other major settlements. Each of these also seems to have developed its own distintive variant of the Venetic alphabet. This paper explores these culture of literacy as expressions of local identity within the region, and of competition between these settlements.

Kar [is] Brit [tius]: a reinterpretation of Vetter No. 112

by Kathryn Lomas

Classical Quarterly 45.2 (1995): 481-4

Cities, states, and ethnic identity in southeast Italy

by Kathryn Lomas

in E. Herring and K. Lomas (eds.) The Emergence of State Identities in Italy in the 1st Millennium BC: 79-90. London, Accordia Research Insitute (2000)

Ancient sources, all writing from a Greek or Roman perspective, present southeast Italy as a region divided into three... more Ancient sources, all writing from a Greek or Roman perspective, present southeast Italy as a region divided into three ethnic groups, forming tribal chiefdoms ruled by kings. Archaeological evidence, in contrast, presents a picture of emerging state societies, characterised by incipient urbanisation. It also reveals a more complex picture of cultural boundaries and identities than that of the traditional division into three ethnic groups. This paper explores the tensions between archaeological and historical evidence in the construction of ethnicity in this region, and examines whether it is possible to reconcile these different forms of evidence to arrive at a more nuanced understanding of the development of ethnic and cultural identities.