Spanish archaeologists discover ancient stone with mystifying symbols
Spanish archaeologists have recently announced the discovery of an ancient stone with confusing symbols carved onto it.
The slate, measuring approximately 8 inches in length, dates back to as early as 600 B.C. On the stone tablet, experts identified what appears to be a sequence of 21 signs. These signs, drawn within a framework on the tablet that also featured figures of warriors, are believed to form an ancient alphabet. It is speculated that the original alphabet may have contained as many as 32 symbols.
According to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the tablet bears 21 signs or letters, but it is considered incomplete. The CSIC explained that the stone was discovered at the Casas del Turuñuelo, which are Tartessian ruins in the southwestern Spanish province of Badajoz.
Joan Ferrer i Jané, a researcher from the University of Barcelona, recognized the artefact as Tartessian. Tartessos was an ancient civilization that flourished in the southern Iberian Peninsula over 3,000 years ago. Due to the scarcity of surviving remnants, it is considered a "lost" civilization. The discovery of the slate is part of a project titled "Building Tartessus."
If scientists’ interpretation of the carvings are correct, this stone would be only the third "southern Paleo-Hispanic alphabet of which there is evidence" ever to be discovered.
