Botorrita plaque
The Botorrita plaques are four bronze plaques discovered in  Botorrita (Roman Contrebia Belaisca), near Zaragoza, Spain, dating to the late 2nd century BC, known as Botorrita I, II, III and IV. Although Botorrita II is in the Latin language, Botorrita I, III and IV, inscribed in the Celtiberian script, constitute the main part of the Celtiberian corpus. Botorrita I
Botorrita I was found in 1970. It is the longest inscription in Celtiberian consisting of a text in 11 lines, on the front face, continued by a list of names on the back side. Side A
A.1. A.2. A.3. A.4. A.5. A.6. A.7. A.8. A.9. A.10. A.11. Side B
B.1. B.2. B.3. B.4. B.5. B.6. B.7. B.8. B.9. Translations

J. Eska (1988)

1. "Regarding a well-wrought boundary structure, the senators of Tocoitom and of Sarnicios [have agreed/decided that] [it is] not permitted"

2. "[that it] be demolished or destroyed or broken apart by violence." (from sos to tamai remains untranslated, probably a tag on the preceding prohibition)

3-4. "and whoever carries out these things, he should give cut [pieces] of silver [namely] 100 sanclistera of otanas at Tocoitom." F. Villar (1990)

1. "In relation to the trescantos [named] Berkuneteca of Tokoit and Sarnicia, this is the settlement/accord:"

W. Meid (1983)

1. "Concerning the hilly region of Togoit and of the Sanricii, the following has been decreed as not allowed"

2. "It is not allowed to do [anything], neither is it allowed to perform/carry out [works], nor is it allowed to perpetrate breakage/harm" [except by permission of the directors]." Rodriguez Adrados (1993)

1. "With regard to the place Tricanta ("the meeting of three roads" or "of three boundaries") of Togotus and of Sarnicius, the council [has determined] thus--[it is] forbidden:"

Notes

Although the general contents of the inscription are known with some confidence--apparently a set of prohibitions ( "must neither...nor..." A.2 with litom < *l(e)ik-to, cf. Latin licitum < *lik-e-to) with specifications of punishments (including payment in silver =  A.3) for violations (side A), and a list of guarantors on side B (though the list seems to start at the end of A.11 with )--there is as yet no unified, agreed-upon translation. It is still not clear, for example, whether the text presents sacred laws concerning a temple or municipal regulations. On the first side, David Stifter (2001), for example, indicates that <> is an 'assembly of 300', similar to Gaulish , while <> according to Bayer (1994) means something like 'was (deemed) suitable (by the assembly)' (cf. Latin  'to please'). The sequences with  and  with infinitive in  are clearly something like '(it is) not permitted to...', and mentions some kind of monetary and property fines for ignoring the prohibitions. F. Villar has
suggested that kombalkez in the first line is  3rd sing. of the perfect of a root*bh el- ' to speak'--"he has spoken." For  in lines A.2-3, Prosper (2006) translates:  "[all] this (is) valid by order of the competent authority" based on the following analyses: : [all] this (< *sod); : final, valid (< *h₂eug-os 'strong, valid', cf. Latin augustus 'solemn'); : of the competent authority (gen. sing. < *pr̥Hi-steh₂-lo- 'competent authority' < *pr̥Hi-sto 'what is first, authority'); : by order (instrumental fem. sing. < *dʰoh₁m-eh₂ 'establish, dispose'). In lines 3 and 6, stena may be related to the word for "thunder" and the name of the Celtic storm god, Taranos (< *Taran-), forms also seen on Botorrita III below. In line 4, the second element in Togoitei eni 'in Togotis' is from *h₁en-i (cf. Lat. in, OIr. in 'into, in'). For Togoitei itself, Matasovic points to Proto-Celtic *tonketo- ‘destiny’ with the cognate in OIr. tocad  saying this form is in the dative/locative singular, and connected to the apparent theonymn TOGOTI in the dative singular, but adding that: "The attribution of the Celtiberian forms to this root is as uncertain as anything else in this language." Later in the same line, bou-sto-mue probably contains in its first element a reflex of the PIE term for "cow": PIE *gwōw- > Lat. bōs, OHG chuo, Sanksrit gáu-, Tokarian A ko, Armenian kov... through Proto-Celtic *bow- whence OIr. bó, Middle Welsh bu, Middle Bretton bou-tig ‘stable’ and the Gaulish personal name Bo-marus. The meaning, therefore, may be "stable," like the Bretton form, but the form seems to be identical historically to Old Irish búas "riches, wealth (in cattle)" from Proto-Celtic *bow-sto-. The form at the end of line 4, kabizeti, can be derived from *gabiyeti, a third person singular present indicative, from the Proto-Indo-European root *ghHb "take, hold" but here, possibly "give" (whence Latin habeo "hold" and possibly Gothic geben "give"), assuming that *-(i)y- becomes -z- in Celtiberian, as seen also in *nowyo- > CeltIb. nouiza. In line 6,  is probably a subjunctive form of indeterminate meaning. And in line 7,  is probably a present third person plural indicative form meaning "they sow." For  (A.8-9), Jordán (2004) translates: "of these, he will give the tithe/tax inside of this territory, so [may it] be fenced as [it should] be unfenced" based on the following analyses: 
 "of these" (< *sa-ōm) 
 "the tithes, the tax" << *-dekam-etos < *-dkm-etos; compare Gaulish decametos 'tenth', Welsh degfed 'tenth', O.Ir. dechmad 'tenth'
 "he will pay, will give" (< PIE *deh2-tо̄d 3rd person singular imperative)
 "inside, in" (< *h₁en-i) 
: of this (loc. sing. < *so-sm-ei 'from this') 
 "territory" (loc. sing. < *touzom 'territory' < *tewt-yo-) 
 "so (be) fenced" 
 "as (be) unfenced." The first word of A.10, , may be the negative (ne-) of a verb meaning "strike, harm" in the 3rd person imperative middle, from Proto-Celtic *bi-na- ‘strike, hit’—compare Old Irish benaid (same meaning), from PIE *bheyH- "strike"; whence Old Latin perfines "you should strike" and Old Church Slavonic biti. And for  in A.10, De Bernardo (2009) translates: "In Togotis, he who draws water either for the green or for the farmland, the tithe (of their yield) he shall give." The form  in line 10 is the nominative singular masculine of the relative pronoun from Proto-Indo-European *yo- (Sanskrit ya-, Greek hos), which shows up in Irish only as the aspiration for leniting relative verb forms. Line 7 has the accusative singular  and the dative singular  of the same root. The second side clearly consists of names, presumably prominent members of the assembly. The names are in the Celtiberian formula, e.g. , is 'Lubo of the Kounesiko (people), [son] of Melnon'; for this reason, it has been suggested that <> is actually <>, i.e. // 'son', as this clearly fits the context (seen notes on plaque III below), but it may merely be a title of a kind of magistrate. Whether this means the sign <Bi> can elsewhere be interpreted as indicating a velar—which would lead, for example, to new possible etymologies for  as from *ups- plus *ag- "drive" and  from *dhingh- "shape, build"—in this text is still unclear. It is generally agreed that  in A.5 means "path," a form also seen in Gaulish, borrowed into Late Latin as cammīnus, and from there into the modern Romance languages. Botorrita II

This bronze plaque, also known as Tabula Contrebiensis, is inscribed in Latin and was discovered in an illegal excavation of the Contrebia Belaisca site, and was obtained in December 1979 by editor Guillermo Fatás Cabeza. The inscription is fully decipherable and relates how the senate of Contrebia Belaisca was called upon by neighboring towns for a decision concerning the right of the town of Salluia to build a canal through the territory of the Sosinestani, an initiative to which the neighboring Allauonenses objected. Based upon the names of Roman officials, the text has been dated to May 87 BC. English translation available at: https://droitromain.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/Anglica/Contrebiensis_Richardson.htm

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. Summary
Based on Richardson (1983). The present members of the Contrebian senate are to judge whether the Sosilestani have the right to sell their land to the Salluenses who plan to build a canal on it, against the wishes of the neighboring Allavonenses. Specifically, the appointed judges are to determine whether by Sosilestani's own laws it is permissible for them to sell the land for building a canal through private land, already staked out for this purpose by the Salluenses, if the latter pay for it appropriately. If they judge in favor of the sale, then the Contrebian magistracy will pick five men to arbitrate the sale, and Roman commander C. V. Flaccus will support the judgment. The decision falls in favor of the Salluenses. (There follows a list of the names of the Contrebian magistrates in power at the time.) Botorrita III
Botorrita III, discovered in 1979, is inscribed in four columns on one side of a plaque, introduced by a heading of two lines. A part of the plaque is missing, but the inscribed portion is complete. It is heavily corroded, and the text was only legible by x-ray. 01: 
02:

Notes
Basically this is a list of names, mostly following the formula seen on the first plaque: name plus tribal name in -um (probably genitive pl). In the mostly obscure first two lines (=title? ), the form soisum seems to be a close parallel to the Sanskrit genitive plural pronominal form teśam < *toisom "of them". If Lambert is correct in his determination that eskeninum is a genitive plural agreeing with the pronoun, and from *eks- plus the cognate of Latin genuinus, and that alba is a borrowing from Latin in the meaning "public list of names" (originally written on a white board), a partial translation of the second line might be: "...[this is] the public list of the names of those very authentic [authorities/individuals]..." In the first line, nouiz may be from *nowija- "new." Whether the list involved legal claims (like Botorrita II above) or had a religious or some other purpose remains, however, unclear. It is notable and rare for this region in this time period for such a public list to include so many female names and references—apparently nearly 30. In lines 1.16, 3.13, 3.19, stena (also seen above in A.3) along with stenion in 4.2, may be related to the word for "thunder" and the name of the Celtic storm god, Taranis (< *Taran- < Proto-Indo-European *(s)tenh2-), with the "s mobile" preserved here uniquely in Celtic. On the name mezu-kenos in line 1.46, Ranko Matasovic notes: "The root [PCelt. *genan < *genh1-en > Old Irish gein a neuter -n stem meaning ‘birth, conception’] is attested in Celtiberian as the second element of the compound PN Mezu-kenos (= OIr. Midgen)." The first element seems to be from Proto-Celtic *medu- < PIE *medhu- "mead", making the compound equivalent to the Gaulish personal name Medu-genos, Ogam MEDDOGENI, Old Irish Midgen, and Old Welsh Medgen which allows the reconstruction of the Proto-Celtic personal name *Medu-genos. Matasovic says of kalmikom (2.26) that it may be related to Middle Irish calma "strong, brave; strength fortitude" and Old Welsh celmed "skilled" all going back to Proto-Celtic *kalmiyo-, a root with no clear Indo-European connections, so perhaps borrowed from a non-Indo-European source. In line 1.30 (and many other similar forms throughout), koitu may be a form of Latin Quintus and koitina may be its feminine equivalent. Note that the Greek transcription of the Latin name was Κοιντος. Possibly also connected is coeti-c from the Larzac tablet (1.b). The form *tekos in 2.49 matches the Proto-Celtic root *teg-os "house." In 3.25 and 3.58, launi may mean "spouse", both times followed by -kue, so "and [his] wife"; it also occurs in local fragmentary epigraphy. Similarly, kentis (2.3, 2.25, 3.4, 3.56, 4.3) "son" is also followed by -kue "and [his] son," and tuate.es-kue (2.40) likely means "and [his] daughter(s?)". The two-line multiple genitives in 3.23-3.24 are unique in the text: retukeno : elkueikikum / kentisum : tuateros-kue "of the sons and of the daughter of the Re(x)-tu-genoi ('right born, lawful' < *h₃reg-tō-genos, Gaulish Rextugenos), the Elkueikikoi ("those with horses that have wheels/chariots" if from *ekue-kykloi; speaking against this interpretation are the many other forms that begin elk- in the list)." The conjunction -kue also seems to appear in line 1.34-35: sanion : baatokum/ niskekue : babokum "Sanion of the Baatoks [unless this is a misreading or misspelling for "babokum" as in the next line], and Niske  [oddly, the only form in the list starting with 'n-"] of the Baboks." These suggest that akuia (1.42), munika (1.53, also 2.51), litu (1.57), elkua (2.51), ama (3.55; also amu 1.56? ), koitana (3.5, also 1.4, 1.6, 2.15), turtunta (3.38), and abalos (3.47) may also express some relationship, since they fall in the same positions followed by -kue (though some or all may simply be names as well). In 3.11, the -z- in the second form is probably from -d- (compare seconzos with Secundus below), so  may read "Antica and his second born, from . The names kalaitos in 2.33, 4.5, 4.12 and tur(r)o (1.60, 2.67 and as elements in many other names, probably "bull") are also found frequently carved in cave walls in the area. The former also resembles the form kaltaikikos from Luzaga's Bronze. On the same bronze, the form elazunom appears, probably  a variant form (different case and/or gender?) elazuna on line 2.57 above. The form burzu (1.23, 1.33...) may be connected to the ancient name for a town about 30 miles north of Botorrita: Bursau. The element mel- in 1.18, 3.3, 4.3...may be from the proto-Celtic root *mello "hill", perhaps as part of a place name; or the short forms may be clippings of the longer forms at 3.42 mel-man-tama and at 4.3 mel-man-zos which may be a personal names meaning 'gifted with mind' < *men-mn̥-tyo- (with dissimilation of the first -n- to -l-). Compare the Gaulish (dative plural) theonym Menman-dutis. The element ebur- in ebur-sunos (3.52) probably means "yew tree"; compare  Old Irish ibar "yew-tree," Welsh efwr "alder buckthorn", Breton evor "alder buckthorn." Xavier Delamarre and John T. Koch argue that the term uiroku (< *wiro-kū) in 1.5, 1.51 and 3.26 means 'man-dog' (i.e. werewolf). It would be cognate to Viroconium (< *wiroconion, 'place of man-dogs'), the ancient name of the English village of Wroxeter, the Old Irish ferchu ('male dog, fierce dog'), and the Brittonic personal names Guurci (Old Welsh) and Gurki (Old Breton). But nearly every line in this text has a form ending in -kum, and this is generally taken to be a genitive plural ending -um on a -k- stem, a common feature of Celtic place names (such as Brittonic Ebor-ak-on > York). Blanca María Prósper interprets the word letontu as pertaining to the semantic field of Proto-Indo-European *pléth₂us ('flat, vast, broad'). It is also suggested that Toutinokum refers to a family name and derives from the widespread Celtic (and Indo-European) stem *teut/tout- ('people, tribe'). Jürgen Untermann notes that some of the names may be of Latin origin: markos (3.43), titos (2.9), lukinos , balakos sekonzos (4.18) = Flaccus Secundus, sekontios (3.16), bolora = Flora, bubilibor = Publipor; while others may be of Greek origin: antiokos (4.13) = Antiochus, bilonikos (3.28, 3.51) Philonicus, tais (2.31) Thais. Note that in 3.15, the name Secundus seems to be spelled sekontios, suggesting that the palatalization of medial /d/ to <z> was still in progress. In 1.15, anu may be compared to Gaulish Anauus "prosperous, wealthy" < Proto-Celtic *anawo- ‘wealth, profit’ (compare OIr. anae and Middle Welsh anaw both ‘wealth’ < Proto-Indo-European *h3enh2- ‘enjoy, use’; cognates Gr. onínēmi ‘use’, Go. ansts ‘mercy, benevolence’). In 1.59 and 3.17, branai may be compared to Gaulish barnaunom "judge(-ment)" (?) from Proto-Celtic *bar-na- , whence also Middle Welsh barnu ‘judge, proclaim.’ The forms not derived from Greek or Latin that have the element bil in 1.20, 1.40, 3.38, and 4.34 may be derived from Proto-Celtic *bel-yo- "tree" (whence Old Irish bile "tree"), seen in the Gaulish place name Billio-magus (>French Billom), perhaps also seen in reduplicated form in the name of the local town Bilbilis "having many trees." Names with claimed Iberian elements include biurtilaur (1.37), anieskor (4.27), bilosban (4.34), and bartiltun : ekarbilos (2.50), karbilikum (3.39). In 1.55, kortikos may mean "public," and kontusos (1.2) may either refer to a group of clients under patronage of someone, or a group of slaves. Botorrita IV
Botorrita IV, discovered in 1994, consists of 18 lines on both faces of the plaque. The text is fragmentary. A.1. [...]tam:tirikantam:entorkue:toutam[...]
A.2. [...]:sua kombal[.]z:bouitos:ozeum:[...] A.3. [...]i:turuntas:tirikantos:kustai:bize[...]
A.4. [...]a:karalom:aranti:otenei:ambi[...]
A.5. [...]kom:atibion:taskue:.a.s[...]
A.6. [...]kue:usimounei:[...]
A.7. [...]karalom:ios:lu.e.s[...]
A.8. [...]oi.u..ti:esta[...]
A.9. [...]uta:...kue[...]
A.10. [...]ti.. n.e[...]
B.1. [...]e .. i[...]
B.2. [...]atuz:uta:e[...]
B.3. [...]isum:..ti:[...]
B.4. [...]olo...:iom:u[...]
B.5. [...]toke...ta:.ue:tizatuz[...]
B.6. [...]l..lez.l.toioan[...]
B.7. [...]toruonti:stoteroi:tas[...]
B.8. [...]ko..esusiomo..o[...]

Notes
The form  ("territory"? or "(group of) 300"?) at the beginning of Botorrita I reappears in line A.1 here, and as  in A.3; and note  in A.2 versus  in B.I, A.1. The form  in line 2 is likely from *gwou-i-tos-s "cow path." In A3, turuntas is probably an -a- stem genitive singular, possibly a place name, or perhaps a form meaning "spring." The form  occurs in both A.4 and A.7, and it may refer to the demonym Gralliensis mentioned by Pliny the Elder. Also in line A.4, the form  may refer to a town that issues coinage bearing the legends  and , a town name also seen in Arandis in Lusitania

In B.4, tizatuz may be from PIE *di-dhh1-tōd, which would make Gr. τῐ́θέτω "he must put" its exact cognate. In B.7, the form stoteroi may be from *stā-tér-oi, from the root *stā- "to be standing, to remain, to be," but here a nominal farm in the nominative plural "those standing..."

References

Further reading 

 Bayer, Walter (1994) "Zur Inschrift von Botorrita: keltiberisch bintiś, kombalkes, kombalkoŕeś, aleiteś und ikueś". In: Etudes Celtiques. vol. 30 pp. 191–203. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/ecelt.1994.2040
 Beltrán, A. y A. Tovar (1982) Contrebia Belaisca (Botorrita, Zaragoza). I. El bronce con alfabeto ‘ibérico’ de Botorrita, Zaragoza. Beltrán, A. (19830 “Epigrafía ibérica de Contrebia Belaisca (Botorrita, Zaragoza): inscripciones menores”, en Homenaje al prof. Martín Almagro Basch. III, Madrid, pp. 99–107. Beltrán Lloris, Francisco (1996): «Useisu aiankum tauro no era bintis. Una nota de lectura sobre la cara B de Botorrita 1»,  La Hispania prerromana, pp. 51–63. Beltrán Lloris, Francisco (2002): (Review of F. Villar, Mª. A. Díaz, M. Mª. Medrano y C. Jordán, El IV bronce de Botorrita (Contrebia Belaisca): arqueología y lingüística, Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca 2001, 226 pp.) in Palaeohispanica (revista sobre lengua y culturas de la Hispania antigua), vol. 2, Zaragoza, pp. 381–393. . Beltrán Lloris, Francisco - de Hoz, Javier - Untermann, Jürgen (1996): El tercer bronce de Botorrita (Contrebia Belaisca), Zaragoza. Francisco Beltrán Lloris and Carlos Jordán Cólera (2020) "Celtiberian" PALAEOHISPANICA: revista sobre lenguas y culturas de la Hispania antigua pp. 631–690. I.S.S.N. 1578-5386 DOI: 10.36707/palaeohispanica.v0i20.395
 Bernardo Stempel, Patrizia de. "Il celtibérico Pi.n.Ti.ś come antico composto indoeuropeo". In: Etudes Celtiques. vol. 32, 1996. pp. 117–124. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/ecelt.1996.2090
 De Bernardo, Patrizia (2009) "La Gramática Celtibérica Del Primer Bronce De Botorrita: Nuevos Resultados" In Acta Palaeohispanica X. Palaeohispanica 9  p. 694. Eichner, Heiner (1989) "Damals und heute: Probleme der Erschliessung des Altkentischen zu Zeussens Zeit und in der Gegenwart" in Erlanger Gedenkfeier für Johann Kasper Zeuss (ed. B. Forssman) Erlangen p. 45 ff. Eska, Joseph F. (1988) Towards an interpretation of the Hispano-Celtic inscription of BotorritaUniversity of Toronto (Canada) ProQuest Dissertations Publishing NL43452. Jordán, Carlos (2004): Celtibérico, Zaragoza. Lambert, Pierre-Yves (1996) (review of Beltran, Hoz and Untermann, 1996) Études celtiques 32  pp. 268–274.https://www.persee.fr/doc/ecelt_0373-1928_1996_num_32_1_2261_t1_0268_0000_3. Lambert, Pierre-Yves (2012) (Review of Prósper, Blanca María  El bronce celtibérico de Botorrita I. Pisa-Roma, Fabrizio Serra editore, 2008 (Ricerche sulle lingue di frammentaria attestazione, 6) ) in Études celtiques 38  pp. 301–302. Lejeune, Michel (1973) "La grande inscription celtibère de Botorrita", Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres pp. 622–648. https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_1973_num_117_4_12946
 Lejeune, Michel (1990) (Review of Eska, Joseph F. (1988) Towards an interpretation of the Hispano-Celtic inscription of BotorritaUniversity of Toronto (Canada) ProQuest Dissertations Publishing NL43452.) Études celtiques 27  pp. 380–381. Meid, Wolfgang (1993) Die erste Botorrita-Inschrift: Interpretation eines keltiberischen Sprachdenkmals. Institut für Sprachwissenschaften der Universität, Innsbruck  (Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft; Band 76). Prósper, Blanca María  El bronce celtibérico de Botorrita I. Pisa-Roma, Fabrizio Serra editore, 2008 (Ricerche sulle lingue di frammentaria attestazione, 6)
 Richardson, J. S. (1983) "The Tabula Contrebiensis: Roman Law in Spain in the Early First Century B.C." The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 73 , pp. 33–41 https://doi.org/10.2307/300071. Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco. "Propuestas para la interpretación de Botorrita I". In: Emerita: Revista de lingüística y filología clásica. Vol. 63. Nº 1. 1995. pags. 1-16. Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco. "Sobre Botorrita IV". In: Emerita. Revista de Lingüística y Filología Clásica (EM). LXX. Vol. 1. 2002. pp. 1–8. Schmidt, Karl Horst (Jan 1, 1992) (Review of Eska) Indogermanische Forschungen; Strassburg Vol. 97 pp. 236–242. Simón Cornago, Ignacio. "Note de lecture sur une brève inscription de Botorrita (Contrebia Belaisca)." In: Etudes Celtiques, vol. 41, 2015. pp. 59–74. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/ecelt.2015.2449
 Stifter, David (2001): "Neues vom Keltiberischen: Notizen zu Botorrita IV", Die Sprache (Sonderheft): Chronicalia Indoeuropaea 38/3 [1996], pp. 89–110. Stifter, David (2006): "Contributions to Celtiberian Etymology 2", Palaeohispanica 6, pp. 237–245. Untermann, Jürgen (1997): Monumenta Linguarum Hispanicarum. IV Die tartessischen, keltiberischen und lusitanischen Inschriften, Wiesbaden. Velaza, Javier (1999): «Balance actual de la onomástica personal celtibérica», Pueblos, lenguas y escrituras en la Hispania Prerromana, pp. 663–683. Villar, Francisco - Díaz, Mª Antonia - Medrano, Manuel Mª - Jordán, Carlos (2001): El IV bronce de Botorrita (Contrebia Belaisca): arqueología y lingüística, Salamanca. Paleohispanic languages
Archaeological discoveries in Spain
Celtiberian inscriptions
Bronze objects
Province of Zaragoza
History of Aragon
20th-century archaeological discoveries
Latin inscriptions
2nd century BC in Hispania