page_title: Belli
section_title: Culture
hierarchical_section_title: Belli / Culture
caption_attribution_description: Español: Tesera de Hospitalidad celtíbera, encontrada en Uxama (Osma, Soria, España). Depositada en el Museo Numantino de Soria. Français&#160;: Tessère d'hospitalité celtibère, trouvée à Uxama Argaela (Osma, Soria, Espagne) et conservée au Museo Numantino de Soria.
context_page_description: The Belli, also designated Beli or Belaiscos were an ancient pre-Roman Celtic Celtiberian people who lived in the modern Spanish province of Zaragoza from the 3rd Century BC.
context_section_description: The most culturally advanced of the peoples of southern Celtiberia, the Belli were the first Celtiberian tribe to adopt coinage in the aftermath of the 2nd Punic War and to post laws in written form on bronze tablets (Tabulae), using a modified Northeastern Iberian script (known as the Celtiberian script) for their own language. In this script and language they inscribed the characteristic Celtiberian 'hospitality tokens' which are small bronze objects, in two halves, each half being retained by people who stood in hospitality relationship to one another. These would act as a sort of identity card, and were probably used as safe-conducts or other warranties. The two halves have been found in places several hundreds of kilometres apart, which implies that the various Celtic groups maintained a system of communications throughout at least central Spain. 
  The most complete Celtiberian text we have on the bronze 'hospitality tokens' that acted as a sort of identity card is from the Belli and reads lubos alisokum aualoske kontebias belaiskas meaning 'Lubos of the Aliso family, son of Aualos, from Contrebia Belaisca' showing the self-description of this man, by paternity, extended family and territory which is characteristically Celtic.
caption: Example of a bronze hospitality token in the Celtiberian Celtic language
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