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From: Aidan Kehoe <kehoea@parhasard.net>
Newsgroups: sci.lang
Subject: Re: Lost =?utf-8?Q?civilization=E2=80=99s?= partial alphabet
 (Tartessian) was discovered in social media post
Date: Mon, 05 Aug 2024 08:04:03 +0100
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 Ar an ceathrú lá de mí Lúnasa, scríobh Tilde: 

 > https://www.sciencenews.org/article/lost-civilization-alphabet-social-media
 > 
 > A sequence of letters belonging to an ancient
 > alphabet has been discovered in a most unusual
 > way — by someone scrolling through social media.
 > 
 > The inscription, on a slate slab unearthed in
 > Spain, is closely linked to the Phoenician
 > alphabet, which was hugely influential on later
 > writing systems including Latin, Spanish and
 > English. Researchers hope that the finding will
 > expand their understanding of a prosperous
 > pre-Roman civilization’s writing system. Until
 > now, only incomplete or poorly dated samples
 > had been found. The Spanish National Research
 > Council announced the discovery in a June 11
 > press release.
 > 
 > Earlier this month, Joan Ferrer i Jané, a
 > software engineer based in Barcelona, was
 > browsing updates on X, formerly Twitter, from an
 > archaeological dig at Casas del Turuñuelo in
 > southern Spain. Dating to the 5th century B.C.,
 > the site is one of several connected with
 > Tartessos. This civilization emerged in what is
 > today southwestern Spain from the cultural
 > exchange between the Iberian peninsula’s
 > indigenous dwellers and Phoenician settlers who
 > arrived around the 10th century B.C. Ancient
 > Greek texts mention the existence of a city
 > called Tartessos, which recent findings are
 > revealing was in fact a complex culture with
 > stunning material wealth due to abundant iron,
 > silver and gold in the region. This
 > civilization mysteriously disappeared towards
 > the end of the 5th century B.C.

Gracías Tilde! 

The press release is here:

https://www.csic.es/es/actualidad-del-csic/el-csic-investiga-un-abecedario-hallado-en-la-tablilla-de-pizarra-del-yacimiento-de-casas-del-turunuelo 

And an earlier press release regarding the initial discovery of the slate, with
a bit more detail of the drawings: 

https://www.csic.es/es/actualidad-del-csic/investigadores-del-csic-hallan-escenas-de-guerreros-de-los-siglos-vi-v-ac-grabadas-en-una-placa-de-pizarra-en-el-yacimiento-tartesico-de-casas-del-turunuelo

It calls Ferrer i Jané “an investigator affiliated with the LITTERA group of
the Unversity of Barcelona,” so likely not (just) a software engineer.

I’m sure PTD would have weighed in if Google Groups still spoke to Usenet; I
have no insight myself into the details of Iberian Phoenician.

-- 
‘As I sat looking up at the Guinness ad, I could never figure out /
How your man stayed up on the surfboard after fourteen pints of stout’
(C. Moore)