In the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, between the Late Neolithic and the Copper Age, a series of ritual objects emerged that have fascinated archaeologists and historians for over a century: the engraved slate plaques. These artifacts, especially those classified as classic type, have been interpreted as genealogical records within the ancient communities of the region.
A recent study, led by researchers from the University of Iowa and published in the European Journal of Archaeology, examines this theory through a statistical analysis of the largest available database to date. The findings, in addition to providing a more detailed understanding of these objects, strengthen the hypothesis that these plaques may have been symbols of lineages or clans, preserving ancestral memory in a graphic system that could represent one of the earliest forms of “writing” in Europe.
The engraved slate plaques in the Iberian Peninsula date from between 3200 and 2200 BCE and belong to a class of ritual objects. Although primarily found in southern Portugal and southwestern Spain, their distribution extends across the region, revealing the broad dissemination of this practice in local societies.
With sizes averaging around 15 centimeters, they are often discovered in collective tombs, suggesting a possible function related to funerary rites. The patterns on these plaques are geometric and sometimes include stylized depictions of eyes or faces, elements that many experts associate with the religious iconography of the time. However, one of the most compelling interpretations is that these engravings represent a genealogical system, a perspective this new research has brought back to the forefront of archaeological debate.
The research team, led by Katina Lillios of the University of Iowa, conducted an exhaustive analysis of 1,826 slate plaques recorded in the ESPRIT database (Engraved Stone Plaque Registry and Inquiry Tool). The ESPRIT database, a digital tool compiling detailed information on these plaques, includes aspects such as design, geographic location, and the discovery context of each plaque. The researchers statistically evaluated the relationships between the number of records on the plaques, their geographical distribution, and the size of the tombs in which they were found, proposing that these variations reflect social status and lineage or clan membership.
Lillios and her team focused on the classic-type plaques, the most common and uniform, characterized by a division into two parts: a “base” and an “upper part,” separated by horizontal bands. The base, typically decorated with geometric patterns in horizontal designs (triangles, checkerboards, zigzags, among others), is interpreted as a genealogical marker. According to this theory, the number of records (or levels of decoration) could indicate the generational distance between the deceased and a significant ancestor.
A key question the study addresses is whether there is a correlation between the number of records on the plaques and their geographical distribution. If the plaques represent genealogical records, the researchers expected to find plaques with fewer records concentrated in Alentejo (in southern Portugal), regarded as the “heart” of this tradition, while those with more records would be more geographically dispersed.
This pattern would be consistent with the expansion of successive generations of a lineage to other areas. The results of the analysis show a significant, though not conclusive, correlation between the number of records and the dispersion of the plaques, which supports the hypothesis that they may represent lineages that expanded over time.
Another fundamental aspect explored by the researchers was the possible relationship between the size of the tombs where the plaques were found and the number of bands separating the base from the upper part. Tomb size is an indicator of labor investment and, possibly, the status of the individuals buried within. This study found that plaques found in larger tombs tended to have a greater number of bands, which could suggest a connection between the complexity of the design and the social prestige of the individuals they accompanied.
Furthermore, plaques from larger tombs also exhibit a distinctive zigzag design and often include a “necklace” at the top, a detail appearing in only 18% of the classic-type plaques. According to the study, this set of characteristics could be associated with high-ranking individuals or specific clans. Thus, these plaques with more complex designs may have served as prestige symbols, reserved for people with a distinguished position in the community.
The conclusions of Lillios and her team suggest that the engraved slate plaques were not merely decorative objects but active tools for identity transmission, lineage legitimization, and preservation of collective memory. By graphically representing genealogical ties, these objects could have helped reinforce clan cohesion and ensured the transmission of rights and privileges in a society with hierarchical tendencies. The structure of the designs—based on weaving patterns, an art traditionally associated with garment making—reinforces the idea that the plaques also reflected the social and symbolic role of textiles in the lives of these communities.
While DNA analysis is not yet available to confirm whether individuals buried with these plaques shared specific lineages, the available evidence suggests that they may have functioned as a wordless writing system, called semasiography. By recording genealogical information on the plaques, the Neolithic and Chalcolithic communities of Iberia may have created a unique system of memory transmission and identity legitimization which, if confirmed, could be cataloged as one of the earliest forms of writing in Europe.
The research also suggests that as these societies evolved, the use of the plaques faded with the arrival of the so-called “Bell Beaker culture” at the end of the third millennium BCE. However, the geometric motifs of the plaques reappear in Bell Beaker vessels, indicating that memories of clans and lineages survived, albeit adapted to new contexts and materials.
SOURCES
Lillios KT, Tang Z, Bowen J. The Engraved Slate Plaques of Late Neolithic and Copper Age Iberia: A Statistical Evaluation of the Genealogical Hypothesis. European Journal of Archaeology. Published online 2024:1-18. doi:10.1017/eaa.2024.34
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