The Southwest Script, also called Southwestern Script, Tartessian, South Lusitanian, and Conii script, is an ancient writing system used to record a language that is not fully understood, though it is often linked to the Tartessian people. Inscriptions in this script have mostly been discovered in the southwestern part of the Iberian Peninsula, mainly in southern Portugal (especially in the Algarve and southern Alentejo regions), as well as in parts of Spain, such as southern Extremadura and western Andalusia.

Name of the script

The name of this script is a topic of debate among scholars. A more neutral term is "southwestern," as it describes the region where the script was used. Some names linked to languages and cultures include:

• Tartessian, because it is thought to be used for the language spoken in Tartessos. However, some scholars believe this is unlikely, as only four of the one hundred known inscriptions were found in the area of Tartessos.
• South Lusitanian, because most inscriptions from the southwest were discovered in southern Portugal, a region that was part of the Roman province of Lusitania. However, this name might suggest a connection to the Lusitanian language, which is not certain.
• Conii script, as Greek and Roman records mention the people called Conii or Cynetes in the area where many stelae were found.
• Bastulo-Turdetanian.

Deciphering strategies

Unlike the northeastern Iberian script, the southwestern script has not been fully decoded, just as the southeastern Iberian script has not been fully decoded. The two main methods used to determine the sound values of the letters are:

• Comparative approach: This method involves comparing letters in the southwestern script with letters in the Phoenician alphabet and other ancient Iberian scripts (including the northeastern and southeastern scripts). If a letter appears similar in the Phoenician alphabet and other ancient Iberian scripts, its sound value is assumed to be the same in the southwestern script.
• Internal analysis: This method examines the language itself, such as how often certain letters appear and how they relate to other letters.

If both methods produce the same results, the letter is considered decoded. If the results differ, the letter is considered uncertain. As of 2014, 20 letters have been widely agreed upon (including all 5 vowels, 10 stops, and 5 non-stops), while more than 10 letters remain uncertain. The three main theories about the script’s decoding are those proposed by Correa (2009), de Hoz (2010), and Ramos (2002).

Because the decoding of the script is not complete, it is difficult to determine what language the script represents. Some researchers have suggested the language may have Celtic origins, but this idea is not widely accepted. If this theory were correct, the language represented by the southwestern script would be the first written Celtic language. Other theories suggest the language is Iberian (or possibly non-Indo-European) and may have been influenced by Celtic languages but originated from an Iberian language.

Writing system

Paleohispanic scripts, except for the Greco-Iberian alphabet and the script itself, had a unique type of writing system. These scripts used symbols to represent stop consonants as part of syllables and symbols to represent other consonants and vowels as in an alphabet. This system is called a semi-syllabary.

Scholars do not agree on how Paleohispanic semi-syllabaries developed. Most believe they were influenced by the Phoenician alphabet, though some suggest the Greek alphabet may have also played a role. In the southwestern script, the symbol for a stop consonant was determined by the vowel that followed it, similar to a full semi-syllabary. The following vowel was also written, as in an alphabet. A similar pattern appears in Etruscan writing, where the sound /k/ was written as "ka," "ce," "ci," or "qu," depending on the vowel that followed. Some experts classify Tartessian as a redundant semi-syllabary, while others see it as a redundant alphabet.

The southwestern script closely resembles the southeastern Iberian script in the shapes of its symbols and their meanings. The main difference is that the southeastern Iberian script does not include extra vowel symbols in its syllabic signs. This discovery by Ulrich Schmoll helps classify many symbols in the southwestern script into categories such as vowels, consonants, and syllabic signs.

Inscriptions

This script is mostly found on about 100 large stones (called steles), of which 10 were lost by 2014. Most of these stones were found in modern-day Portugal, especially in the Baixo Alentejo region, though some were discovered in Spain. Sixteen of these steles are displayed at the Southwest Script Museum (Museu da Escrita do Sudoeste, in Portuguese) in Almodôvar, Portugal. One of the steles there has an inscription with 86 characters, which is the longest one found so far and was discovered in 2008.

The inscriptions may have been used for funerary purposes, but without clear information about where they were found, it is hard to be certain. This lack of details also makes it difficult to determine exactly when the script was used. However, it is usually dated to the Iron Age, roughly between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE. The southwestern script is often considered the oldest among Paleohispanic scripts. The writing direction is usually from right to left, but it can also be boustrophedon or spiral.