text is thought to have been preserved. Black ink has been used for the main text, and red ink for lines and diacritics. In use, it would have been folded so that one page lay on top of another like a codex, rather than being wound along like a scroll. Julius Caesar is said to have folded scrolls in similar accordion fashion while on campaigns. Content Though the Etruscan language is not fully understood, many words and phrases can be deciphered, enough to give us an indication of the subject matter. Both dates and the names of gods are found throughout the text, giving the impression that the book is a religious calendar. Such calendars are known from the Roman world, giving not only the dates of ceremonies and processions, but also the rituals and liturgies involved. The lost are referred to by several Roman antiquarians. The theory that this is a religious text is strengthened by recurring words and phrases that are surmised to have liturgical or dedicatory meanings. Some notable formulae on the Liber Linteus include a hymn-like repetition of in column 7, and variations on the phrase , which is translated by van der Meer as "by the sacred fraternity/priesthood of , and by the of ". Though many of the specific details of the rituals are unclear, they seem to have been performed outside cities, sometimes near specific rivers, sometimes on (or at least for) hilltops/citadels, sometimes apparently in cemeteries. Based on the two unambiguous dates that survive — June 18 in 6.14 and September 24 in 8.2 — it is supposed that roughly columns 1-5 deal with rituals occurring in the months before June (probably starting in March, and perhaps there was introductory or other material here as well), column 6 with June rituals, column 7 may refer to rituals in July and possibly August, column 8 September rituals, and 9-12 concerning rites to be performed from October through February. Other numbers are mentioned which are probably also dates, but as the months aren't indicated, we cannot be sure where exactly they fall in the year. Throughout this calendar there is also a fairly clear progression of which kinds of deities are to be propitiated in which months and seasons. Only two individual gods are set off by being preceded by the term farθan fleres, probably "the Genius (or Father?) of the spirit of/in..." These