Paleohispanic scripts

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/paleohispanic-scripts

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the chronological range?Circa 5th century BCE to 1st century CE
2. What is the geographic distribution?Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal)
3. When did people use Paleohispanic scripts?People used them from about the 5th century BCE until the end of the 1st century BCE, or a little into the 1st century CE. That was many centuries before the Latin alphabet became common.
4. Where did the Paleohispanic scripts get their ideas from?Most of them were based on the Phoenician alphabet, which came from the sea traders who visited Iberia. One script, the Greco‑Iberian, was made from the Greek alphabet instead.

Epigraphy: The study of ancient inscriptions and the writing systems used on them.
Paleolinguistics: The study of ancient languages, especially those for which written records exist.
Phoenician Alphabet: An abjad script originating in the Levant, foundational for many Western alphabets.
Semi-syllabic Script: A writing system combining alphabetic (vowel/consonant) and syllabic (consonant-vowel) elements.