▁no ▁cons ensus ▁value . ▁ ▁In scri ptions ▁This ▁script ▁is ▁almost ▁exclus ively ▁found ▁from ▁almost ▁a ▁hundred ▁large ▁stones ▁( st eles ), ▁probably ▁with ▁a ▁fun er ary ▁purpose . ▁The ▁direction ▁of ▁the ▁writing ▁is ▁usually ▁right ▁to ▁left , ▁but ▁it ▁can ▁also ▁be ▁a ▁bou st roph ed on ▁or ▁spir al . ▁The ▁fact ▁that ▁almost ▁all ▁the ▁south western ▁ins cri ptions ▁had ▁been ▁found ▁out ▁of ▁arch ae ological ▁context ▁does ▁not ▁permit ▁fixing ▁a ▁precise ▁chron ology , ▁but ▁it ▁seems ▁clear ▁that ▁it ▁was ▁used ▁in ▁the ▁ 5 th ▁century ▁BC ; ▁however ▁it ▁is ▁usual ▁to ▁date ▁them ▁from ▁the ▁ 7 th ▁century ▁BC ▁and ▁consider ▁that ▁the ▁south western ▁script ▁is ▁the ▁most ▁ancient ▁pale oh is pan ic ▁script . ▁ ▁A ▁total ▁of ▁ 7 5 ▁south west ▁script ▁st eles ▁are ▁known . ▁Of ▁these , ▁ 1 6 ▁can ▁be ▁seen ▁in ▁the ▁South west ▁Script ▁Museum ▁( M use u ▁da ▁Esc rita ▁do ▁S udo este , ▁in ▁Portuguese ), ▁in ▁Al mod ô var ▁( Port ug al ), ▁where ▁a ▁ste le ▁with ▁a ▁total ▁of ▁ 8 6 ▁characters ▁( the ▁longest ▁ins cription ▁found ▁so ▁far ) ▁discovered ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 8 ▁is ▁also ▁on ▁display . ▁ ▁See ▁also ▁Pale oh is pan ic ▁scripts ▁Esp an ca ▁script ▁Pre - R oman ▁pe op les ▁of ▁the ▁I ber ian ▁Pen ins ula