On Sun, 02 Mar 2003 15:48:23 +0100, Miguel Carrasquer <
mcv@...>
wrote:
>The Vascones were in all probability a Celtic tribe.
Let me expand on that. The name is attested in the numismatic material
as BARSKUNES, with the Indo-European plural ending -es. The Basques
have never referred to themselves as Basques/Vascones.
How to explain then the fact that the Basques (both south and north of
the Pyrinees, including the Romanized Gascons) are referred by the
name of a Celtic tribe? Inscriptions in Basque/Aquitanian have been
found in the northern parts of the territory of the Vascones. This
might indicate that the Celtic Vascones were a ruling elite, and that
the people (at least in the mountainous areas) spoke a non
Indo-European Basque language. Sort of like the French being named
after a Germanic tribe.
=======================
Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
mcv@...