Credit: Eduardo González Gómez de Agüero
Posted on 03/15/2025 6:17:42 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Archaeological research carried out at the La Peña del Castro site, located in the municipality of La Ercina, in the province of León (Spain)... Researchers from the University of León have identified an inscription belonging to the Celtiberian alphabet, engraved on a small object linked to the textile activities of the settlement. This object is a spindle whorl, a counterweight used in spinning spindles, dating back to the 1st century BC.
This finding is significant because it represents one of the earliest examples of alphabetic writing documented in the province of León and in the northern Iberian Peninsula. One of the characteristics of Iron Age cultures in the northern Iberian Peninsula is the absence of writing before the Roman conquest...
The symbol engraved on the spindle whorl could be interpreted as a property mark, a common practice in societies of the time, especially in neighboring cultures such as the Vaccean, whose influence on the settlement is evident from the 2nd century BC onward. However, the uniqueness of the find within the site itself also suggests that it might have held symbolic or prestige value, distinguishing its owner within the community's social hierarchy.
The discovery of this inscription is part of a broader process of social transformation that took place at La Peña del Castro during the Iron Age. During this period, there was a significant increase in population, greater social differentiation, and growing economic complexity, characterized by the accumulation of agricultural surpluses and increased trade exchanges with both the plateau and the mountains. The appearance of an alphabetic symbol in this context suggests that certain sectors of the population possessed knowledge of writing and were capable of using it for practical or symbolic purposes.
(Excerpt) Read more at labrujulaverde.com ...
“Propiedad de Helen Thomas”
Be sure to drink your Ovaltine.
Looks like the headstamp on a cartridge.
What caliber?
Maybe V = 5.
First century B.C. is too late for the V to stand for Viriathus, the Lusatian hero of the resistance to Rome.
😆
Is that an unprimed .308 case on the left?
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