The Iberian language

The Iberian language was the language of a people identified by Greek and Roman sources who lived in the eastern and southeastern regions of the Iberian peninsula. The old Iberians can be identified as a rather nebulous local culture between the 7th and 1st century before Christ. The Iberian language, as the other paleohispanic languages, except Basque, became a dead language by the 1st to 2nd centuries after Christ, after being replaced by Latin. Iberian is thought to be an isolate language, wich means it is not related to any other language. But while its different scripts have been rewritten to various extents, the language itself remains largely unknown

History
The origin of the Iberian language is unknown. Although Iberian ceased to be written in the first century after Christ, it may have survived in some areas until the Visigothic period. The Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths and the Ostrogoths. Together these tribes were among the Germanic people who spread through the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period..

Geographic distribution
The Iberian peninsula within Europe, bordering three countries found within it. Spain , Portugal and Andorra

The Iberian language was widely spoken along the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula. In the north, the Iberian language inscriptions reached the south of France up to the Hrault river. Important writing have been found in Ensrune, between Narbonne and Bziers in France, in a setllement with mixed Iberian and Celtic elements

The southern limit would be Porcuna, in Spain, where excellent sculptures of Iberian riders have been found. Towards inland the exact distribution of the Iberian language inscriptions is uncertain. It seems that the culture reached the interior through the Ebro river (Iberus in Latin) as far as Salduie (Zaragoza) but not farther.

Among the pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula the following might have spoken the Iberian language: Ausetani (northeastern Catalonia), Ilergetes, Indigetes, Laietani in Barcelona, Cassetani, Edetani ,Contestani, Bastetani and Oretani. Turduli and Turdetani are believed to be of Tartessian language. For some scholars, such as Valeza, Iberian could have been the language spoken by the inhabitants of these territories, while for others, such as De Hoz, Iberian could have been more of a lingua franca

Writings
The oldest Iberian inscriptions date to the 4th century before Christ or maybe the 5th century BC and the latest ones date from the end of the

1st century before Christ or maybe the beginning of the 1st century after christ. More than two thousand Iberian inscriptions are currently known. Most are short texts on ceramic pots and other tools with personal names written on them, wich are usually interpreted as ownership marks. The longes Iberian text was made on a lead plaques, wich contains more than 600 signs Three different scripts have remained for the Iberian language:

* The northeastern Iberian script is also known as Levantine Iberian or Iberian, because it is the Iberian script that was most frequently used, and was the main means of written expression of the Iberian language. The language is also expressed by the southeastern Iberian script and by the Greco-Iberian alphabet. To understand the relationship between northeastern Iberian and southeastern Iberian scripts, it is necessary to point out that they are two different scripts with different values for the same signs. * The southeastern Iberian script, also known as Meridional Iberian, was one of the means of written expression of the Iberian language, which was written mainly in the northeastern Iberian script and residually by the Greco-Iberian alphabet. however it is clear that they had a common origin and the most accepted hypothesis is that northeastern Iberian script derives from southeastern Iberian script. * The southeastern Iberian script, also known as Meridional Iberian, was one of the means of written expression of the Iberian language, which was written mainly in the northeastern Iberian script and residually by the Greco-Iberian alphabet. however it is clear that they had a common origin and the most accepted hypothesis is that northeastern Iberian script derives from southeastern Iberian script.

What is popular in Iberia?

The Iberian lynx, is a critically endangered species native to the Iberian Peninsula in Southern Europe. It is one of the most endangered cat species in the world. If this species died out, it would be one of the few feline extinctions since the Smilodon 10,000 years ago.