The Iberian lead plaque of the Víctor Català collection (Empúries, L'Escala). A new study and interpretation.

Abstract

In 1949, M. Gómez Moreno, the decipherer of Iberian script, published one of the most unusual pieces of the Iberian epigraphic corpus: an inscribed lead plaque that had been embedded in a stone pillar for public exhibition in a funerary context. The artefact had been found at the beginning of the 20th century in the necropolis of Les Corts, Empúries (2nd-1st century B.C.), but the piece, which was part of the Víctor Català private collection, had disappeared during the Spanish Civil War. This is the reason why, so far, the inscription has always been published on the basis of old pictures and drawings. Thanks to the recent recovery of that lead plaque, it is now possible to provide a new analysis and edition of the inscription.