An ancient language unearthed in Portugal

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• published: 21 Jul 2015
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SHOTLIST : Council of Almodovar (Alentejo) February 12, 2009 1. Various shots of countryside 2. Various shots of archaeologists arriving at ruins site 3. Various shots of archaeologists looking for Tartessian stones 4. SOUNDBITE: (Portuguese) Rui Santana, historian "This language existed within the context of a multilingual Iberian peninsula. But it is the region's first written testimony. It appeared before all other languages in the central and eastern parts of the peninsula. Languages that must have been probably only orally spoken. So this is the first one to have been graphically written." 5. Various shots of archaeologists searching for Tartessian stones 6. Various shots of historian writing Tartessian signs on stone 7. SOUNDBITE: (Portuguese) Rui Santana, historian (audio partly covered with video) "Since the first discoveries in the 18th century until now we haven't discovered more than a hundred stones. Even though in recent years discoveries have shown some good results we still need to discover a lot more. Only future archaeological excavations will enable us to start interpreting this language. Something that today is impossible." 8. Wide shot of village of Almodovar 9. Mid shot of sign 10. Pan across village centre 11. Exterior shot of museum 12. Various shots of stones with Tartessian scriptures on exhibition 13. SOUNDBITE: (Portuguese) Rui Cortes, archaeologist "The scripture of "Monte Novo do Castelinho" is the one with the largest amount of text. It was found recently in the council of Almodovar and it has helped us to understand the structure of the language. There is not enough yet to decipher the language but it is enough to understand the logic and structure of the text. Especially how signs are used in a text. Because most of former discovered stones are small fragments whereas this text is complete." 14. Various shots of stone with text 15. Close up shots of wall panels 16. Wide shot of exhibition 17. SOUNDBITE: (Portuguese) Rui Cortes, archaeologist "The unique thing about this stone is that it has an image incorporated in it. Most ancient texts don't include images. This warrior appears with his weapons: lances, shield and what looks like an armour. He must have been a chief from a small elite." 18. Close up shots of warrior 19. Various shots of inhabitants from Almodovar Lisbon, February 9, 2009 20. Various shots of downtown city 21. Exterior shot of University of Lisbon 22. Various shots of professor examining Tartessian scriptures at library 23. SOUNDBITE: (Portuguese) Amilcar Guerra, archaeologist and historian "We think that the scriptures show the name of the deceased, the name of his father and eventually age, origin and some other personal details. But unfortunately we haven't yet discovered a "Rosetta" stone that will enable us to unveil the mysteries of this language." 24. Wide shot of exhibition of first stone discovered by father on 18th century 25. Close up of draw of father LEAD IN: The discovery in southern Portugal last year of an inscribed stone tablet from the late Bronze Age electrified scientists trying to decipher an extinct Iberian language. They hoped the find would bring a breakthrough in decades of detective work to decipher what is called "southwest script," believed to be the Iberian peninsula's oldest written language and one of Europe's first. But frustrated experts trying to crack the code say the enigma remains and they fear that unless an equivalent of the Rosetta stone is unearthed their efforts to reconstruct the ancient language may be doomed. STORY LINE: These olive tree covered hills in the Alentejo region of southeastern Portugal are revealing secrets of a forgotten people. However we do not yet know what the signs means. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/080809706a3959c8444459698082013f Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork