Inscribed Stele in the Sikel language
This is a posited funerary inscription written in what is believed to be the Sikel language. Unfortunately, the Sikel language has yet to be fully analyzed, so we can only guess at what it says. However, it is written using the Greek alphabet, most likely borrowed from the 8th-7th century BC Greek settlers, who were pushed out due to overcrowding and poverty. The Sikel language is the undeciphered language of the Sikel people, who Greek historians and authors such as Thucydides and Dionysius of Halicarnassus tell us lived on the island of Sicily before Greek colonization. These authors also claim that the Sikel people used to live in central Italy, supported by linguistic comparisons, until they were driven to Sicily by other tribes. The early history of Sicily is one of migrations, as people are forced from their homelands to look for a new place to settle.