a name ending in -por, a frequent Thracian and Dacian onomastic element. On a military diploma issued in 127 in Germania Inferior, a Dacian soldier's father is named Natusis, a name formed with the same first element nat- and a suffix -zi-/-si-. Pieporus: a Thracian or Dacian name. It is a name ending in -por, a frequent Thracian and Dacian onomastic element. Tiatus: a Thracian or Dacian name. Tiatus is maybe a name starting in thia-, typical for Dacians. A name Tiato is attested on a fragmentary dipinto found at Maximianon, a Roman fort in eastern Egypt. Zia or Ziais: a Thracian or Dacian name. Zia is a female name attested in Moesia Inferior. Ethnolinguistic affiliation The ethnic and linguistic affiliation of the Costoboci is uncertain due to lack of evidence. The mainstream view is that they were a Dacian tribe, among the so-called "Free Dacians" not subjected to Roman rule. However some scholars suggested they were Thracian, Sarmatian, Slavic, Germanic, Celtic, or Dacian with a Celtic superstratum. The evidence adduced in support of the main ethnic hypotheses may be summarised as follows: Dacian Onomastics: The family of a Costobocan king called Pieporus (2nd century) had names considered by some scholars to be of Dacian origin . The rubric Dacpetoporiani on the Tabula Peutingeriana has been interpreted by some scholars as an elision of "Daci Petoporiani" meaning the "Dacians of King Petoporus". Schütte argued Petoporus is one and the same as Pieporus, the king of the Costoboci. Archaeology: The Costoboci have been linked, on the basis of their geographical location, with the Lipitsa culture. This culture's features, especially its pottery styles and burial customs, have been identified as Dacian by some scholars, leading to the conclusion that the Costoboci were an ethnic-Dacian tribe. Name etymology: According to Schütte, the Dacian element -bokoi is also occurring in the name of another Dacian tribe, the Sabokoi. However, Roger Batty argues that the Lipitsa culture is a poor fit for the Costoboci, not least because it appears to have disappeared during the 1st century BC, long before the period AD 100–200 when they are attested in and around Dacia by surviving historical documents. Thracian Onomastics: Some scholars consider the names of Pieporus and of his grandsons to be Thracian (see Onomastics, above). Archaeology: According to Jazdewski, in the early Roman period, on the Upper Dniestr, the features of the Lipitsa culture indicate ethnic