Archaeologists in Spain have discovered a stone from a ‘lost civilization’ with an ancient alphabet engraved on it: Fox news reported. If researchers’ hypotheses prove correct, the discovery could predate the Rosetta Stone by more than 400 years.
If scientists’ interpretation of the carvings is correct, this stone would be only the third “southern Paleo-Spanish alphabet for which there is evidence” ever discovered, according to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).
The stone, which was about eight inches long, was discovered in Badajoz, southwestern Spain, in an area known as Casas del Turuñuelo, home to Tartessian ruins. Officials believe it dates back as far as 600 BC
Cristina Quicler/AFP via Getty Images
Getty Images/sol; Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
According to the CSIC, the stone is marked with 27 characters or letters. They believe that the slab they possess may be incomplete, and hypothesize that the original tablet contained approximately 32 characters.
“At least six characters would have been lost in the split area of the piece, but if it were completely symmetrical and the characters completely covered three of the four sides of the plate, 32 characters could be reached, so the lost characters would be there could become eleven or perhaps even more so if a possible character, ‘Tu’, isolated in the side quarter, was part of the alphabet,” said Joan Ferrer i Jané, a researcher at the University of Barcelona. Fox news.
“When I looked at the sign next to the figures, I noticed that on one of the sides there appeared to be a Paleo-Hispanic sign, a sign that cannot be confused with any other,” Ferrer explained. “Other strokes compatible with signs of a known sequence [were also seen].”
He continued: “This alphabet has 27 characters and is the only complete alphabet known to date. Another alphabet was found at the excavation of Villasviejas del Tamuja (Cáceres), but it is very fragmented, having only some central characters… [this one] would be the third and provide a lot of information.”
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) &Sol; Getty Images
The ancient civilization of Tartessos was located on the southern edge of the Iberian Peninsula some 3,000 years ago. It is considered a lost culture due to its few cultural artifacts, making the discovery of the slab a milestone in understanding the ancient city.
The slab is now part of a project called Building Tartessus, which seeks to ‘characterize the material culture of Tartess through the architectural analysis of the large mudbrick buildings excavated in recent decades and introduce the concept of architecture as an integrated element in the area’. CSIC explains it on its website.
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
