Message #132855

[Bianca]

Some scientists believe the authors were other pre-Roman tribes, such as the Conii or Cynetes, or maybe even Celts who roamed this far south.

Another translation difficulty is that the writing is not standardised. It seems certain that it was adapted from the Phoenician and Greek alphabets because it copied some of their written conventions.

But it also tweaked some of those rules and invented new ones.

Experts have identified characters representing 15 syllables, seven consonants and five vowels. But eight characters, including a kind of vertical three-pronged fork, have confounded attempts at comprehension.

Even when they can read portions of text, scientists don't really understand what it is saying - like a child mouthing the words of a Shakespeare play.

"We have a lot of doubts," says Guerra, who has written scholarly articles about southwest script.

"We can read characters and see the phonetics in action ... but when we try to understand what they actually mean we have a lot of problems."

There are clues. The symmetrical, twisting text gives the impression of a decorative flourish. Some stones also feature crudely rendered figures, such as a warrior carrying what appear to be spears. The lower part of the rectangular stones is left blank as if intended to be stuck in the ground.

That has led experts to a supposition: The tablets were gravestones for elite members of local Iron Age society. Repeated sequences of words perhaps mean, "Here lies ..." or "Son of ...", Guerra explains. Since most people probably couldn't read, the ornamental elements lent distinction.