Exploring Ancient Writing in Northern Iberia: A Surprising Discovery

Exciting news from the world of archaeology! Imagine this: archaeologists have recently uncovered a small object at the Iron Age settlement of La Peña del Castro, which has revealed evidence of one of the oldest examples of writing ever found in northern Iberia. Pretty intriguing, right?

Back in 2017, an unassuming object—a spindle whorl, used as a counterweight in weaving—was found in a storage area that also contained a basket of seeds, cured beef, and some tools. At first glance, it appeared to be just another everyday item made from locally sourced talc. But wait, here’s the twist: recent analysis has shown that this tiny spindle whorl is etched with a symbol from the Celtiberian alphabet! It’s believed that the symbol could have been used as some kind of property mark.

Historically, it was thought that alphabetic writing didn’t exist in northern Iberia before the Roman conquest in the late first century B.C. But this discovery challenges that idea. It suggests that some form of literacy and knowledge of writing may have existed well before the Romans arrived in the region.

What do you think this could mean? Does it change how we understand ancient Iberian societies? Could there have been more written records hidden in plain sight? Let’s keep exploring these amazing discoveries and think about how much more we could uncover about the ancient world!

What’s your take on this? Could writing have been more widespread than we once thought?