Ancient Geography Database

Part #15 - First Supplementary on Hispania (the Gallaecian region of Hispania Tarraconensis)

Time Period: 2nd century AD
Location: northern Portugal (north of the Douro), Galicia, Asturias, northwestern portions of Castille & Leon.

Due to matters of practicality (Ptolemy's entry on Hispania is rather massive), I had to split things quite a bit - even the entries on individual provinces are large, in particular Hispania Tarraconensis. Therefore, this first entry will cover only Roman Gallaecia. Unfortunately, partially due to my lack of knowledge of the region, things are very incomplete for localizations. Therefore, your help would be greatly appreciated. What I should add is that under Roman administration, Gallaecia (including Asturias) was organized into three 'conventi', which were the Conventus Bracarensis (northern Portugal and southern Galicia), Conventus Lucensis (northern Galicia) and Conventus Asturicensis (Asturias, northern Castille & Leon, plus eastern bits of Galicia).

Rivers and Coastal Features

The Western Coast (north to south):

Along Callaici Lucensi territory:
Nerium promontory - Cape Finistere
The Arbtabi harbour (possibly near 42°50'41'' N, 9°06'17'' W )
Tamara river ???
Via river - Ria de Vigo, Galicia
Orvium promontory ???

Along Callaici Bracares territory:
Minius river - Rio Minho, today marks the Portuguese/Spanish border
Limius river - Rio Lima, Portugal
Nebis river - Cavado river?
Avarus promontory ???
Avus river - the Ave river, Portugal
Dorius river (Duero) - marks the border to Lusitania

The northern Coast (west to east)
"The Altars of Sesti" - a promontory (possibly near Malpica de Bergantiños)
Virus river
"a promontory" (possibly near A Coruna?)
Flavius Brigantius (Betanzos, Galicia) - originally probably called "Brigantion"
Lapatia Coru promontory - also called Trilecum in Callaici Lucensi territory, possibly the subtribe of the Lapatianci.
Mearus river (??)
Nabius River (??)
Nabialavionis river (??)
Flavionavia of the Astures Paesici (Pravia, Asturias)
Naelus river (Nalon river)

Towns and Settlements

Towns of the Callaici Lucensi
- Burum
- Olina
- Vica
- Libunca
- Pintia
- Caronium
- Turuptiana
- Glandomirum
- Ocelum
- Turriga

Claudiomerum of the Artabri
Novium of the Artabri
Ira Flavia of the Capori (Padron, Galicia)
Lucus Augusti of the Capori (Lugo, Galicia)
Aqua Calida of the Cilini (Caldas de Reis, Galicia)
Dactonium of the Lemavi (Monteforte de Lemos, Galicia)
Flavia Lambris of the Baedyi (??)
Talamina of the Seurri (??)

Asturian Towns:
Lucus Asturum of the Luggones (Llanera, Asturias)
Labernis
Interamnium (possibly Ponferrada, Castille & Leon)
Argenteola
Lanciati
Maliaca
Gigia
Bergidum river
Interamnium river

Brigaecium of the Brigaecini
Bedunia of the Bedunenses
Intercatia of the Orniacori
Paelontium of the Lungones
Nardinium of the Selini
Petavonium of the Supertati
Asturica Augusta of the Amacori (Astorga)
Nemetobriga of the Tibures (Mendoia, Galicia)
Forum Gigurrum of the Gigurri

Towns of the Callaici Pracari:
- Bracaraugusta (Braga, Portugal)
- Caladunum
- Pinetus
- Complutica
- Tuntobriga
- Araducca

Aqua Flavia of the Turodori or Turodi
Volobriga of the Nemetatari
Celiobriga of the Calerinori or Coelerni (Castromao, Galicia)
Forum Bibilori of the Bibilori
Form Limicori of the Limicori (Ponte de Lima, Portugal)
Tuda of the Gruiori (Tui, Galicia)
Merua of the Luancori or Luanqui
Aquae Quacernori of the Quaquerni
Cambetum of the Lubanori
Forum Nabasori of the Nabasori
 
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Cleaned up Euromed/ME basemap

europeblankmap.PNG
 
An excellent idea, and that's a good base map since it covers a good chunk of Ptolemy's world map. However, a critical information still missing are rivers.

In particular the following ones would be quite significant in the context of the stuff I posted already or am about to post:

Seine
Loire
Garonne
Rhone
Rhine

Duero
Tejo
Guadiana
Guadalqivir
Ebro

Elbe
Vistula
Danube
Oder
 

Thande

Donor
Does that map have ancient coastlines yet? I can't remember what the Netherlands used to look like, but I did note that the island at the top of Denmark is correctly shown as joined on to Jutland as it was until the 19th century.
 
Does that map have ancient coastlines yet? I can't remember what the Netherlands used to look like, but I did note that the island at the top of Denmark is correctly shown as joined on to Jutland as it was until the 19th century.

This reminds me of something: the mouth region of the Guadalquivir river probably looked quite a bit different in Antiquity. What today are swampy lowlands probably were more like a shallow lake 2000 or 2500 years ago. Which in turn may easily explain why the city of Tartessos itself hasn't been found yet - it may very well be buried under plenty of mud. The river was also significantly more and farther navigable than today (up to Cordoba, whereas today, it's only possible to do that to Seville).
 

Thande

Donor
This reminds me of something: the mouth region of the Guadalquivir river probably looked quite a bit different in Antiquity. What today are swampy lowlands probably were more like a shallow lake 2000 or 2500 years ago. Which in turn may easily explain why the city of Tartessos itself hasn't been found yet - it may very well be buried under plenty of mud. The river was also significantly more and farther navigable than today (up to Cordoba, whereas today, it's only possible to do that to Seville).

Perhaps. I'm not sure whether it would be more accurate to show the undrained Fens in England as water too...
 
Perhaps. I'm not sure whether it would be more accurate to show the undrained Fens in England as water too...

Good point. I'm not sure to what degree the Fens are comparable, though. Either way, in the case of, say the Netherlands, the difference is considerable.
 
Verry interesting and helpful info, EQ. Can't ait for you to post a list of Germanic tribes. ;)

One brief nitpick. All the way back in part 2 you mention that Phleum lies near Appingedam, in Groningen near the Ems river/inlet. I was rather intrigued by this and did a brief search on Google and Wikipedia, but they lead me to believe that Phleum actually correlates to Velsen on the duney coast of Holland, on the other side of the country. That's a big difference. :/
 
Verry interesting and helpful info, EQ. Can't ait for you to post a list of Germanic tribes. ;)

Welcome! :D

And well, I'm terrible. I'm simultaneously working on three installements at the moment (the rest of Hispania, another installment on Germania Magna regarding the various tribes, and finally, an installment on Sarmatia), and I can't focus on just one. :eek:

I desire to get all of them done as soon as possible, however.

One brief nitpick. All the way back in part 2 you mention that Phleum lies near Appingedam, in Groningen near the Ems river/inlet. I was rather intrigued by this and did a brief search on Google and Wikipedia, but they lead me to believe that Phleum actually correlates to Velsen on the duney coast of Holland, on the other side of the country. That's a big difference. :/

Well, I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment. As you may have noticed from the caveat I gave in the entry regarding the cities in Germania Magna, most of these names are taken from the Berlin Group, and there's many towns and places in the list which I heavily disagree on or am rather sceptical about (basically just the underlined ones are of my own research, and where I can definitely agree on the localization - or disagree). I am pretty sure that with most of the localizations the Berlin Group gave, the actual sites are many tens of kilometers off. One issue that particular bugs me with the Berlin Group list is the utter lack of name discontinuity (which casts doubt on the reason why they placed said town where they did), and because of that reason, the idea that Phleum is actualy Velsen is more plausible to me. Here's a few other examples which I actually think are the case, but I never really gotten around to verify in any way:

Galegia -> Görlitz
Stragona -> Striegau/Strzegom
Carrodunum -> Krakow

(of course, this distorts/displaces A LOT of other places on the list, in particular in the east) So yeah, I'd love to do an improved/revised list of towns later in the future, definitely. :)

EDIT: I guess I have to explain the problem a bit more. In his own coordinate system, Ptolemy gives the following coordinates:

Mouth of the Ems - 55°00' N, 29°00' E
Phleum - 54°45' N, 28°45' E

The actual coordinates in our coordinate system for the mouth of the Ems is about 53°19'56'' N, 7°00'38'' E.
If you go by the original difference, Phleum should be located 0°15' south and 0°15' west. However, if you consider the errors and distortions of Ptolemy's map, you get a considerable margin of error. As a result, the localization gets a very delicate business.
 
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An excellent idea, and that's a good base map since it covers a good chunk of Ptolemy's world map. However, a critical information still missing are rivers.

In particular the following ones would be quite significant in the context of the stuff I posted already or am about to post:

Seine
Loire
Garonne
Rhone
Rhine

Duero
Tejo
Guadiana
Guadalqivir
Ebro

Elbe
Vistula
Danube
Oder

I know, that was the only map I could find that covered the whole Europe/Mediterranean/Middle East zone. I just erased modern regional boundaries, so no rivers. Sorry.

Does that map have ancient coastlines yet? I can't remember what the Netherlands used to look like, but I did note that the island at the top of Denmark is correctly shown as joined on to Jutland as it was until the 19th century.

Like I said, it's a modern map. I think around 4000 BCE Qatar was an island and most of Quwait was underwater. Also, the mouth of the Po in Italy was considerably more inland. I think Sveden also had an even more rugged coast and Euboea was not an island (an eartquake separated it from Peloponnesus at some point).
 
Part #16 - Second Supplementary on Hispania (the Cantabrian and Vasconic regions of Hispania Tarraconensis)

Time Period: 2nd century AD
Location: northern Spain (Cantabria, Basque Country)

This is the second (out of probably four or five) installments regarding the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis. It covers the remaining ethnic groups along the northeastern coast. I must say that although Ptolemy gives plenty of data, localizations for many towns remain unclear.

Towns of the Cantabrians:
Noega Ucesia of the Cantabri (possibly Noja, Cantabria?)
Concana (Congarna, Cantabria?)
Ottaviolca or Octaviolca (???)
Argenomescum (???)
Vadiana (???)
Vellica (???)
Camarica (???)
Juliobriga (42.9866°N, 4.1123°W)
Moroeca (???)

Towns of the Autrigones:
Flaviobriga (Castro Urdiales, Cantabria) - located at the coast
Uxama Barca (Osma de Valdegobia)
Segisamonculum (Cerezo del Rotirion, Burgos Province)
Viresca or Virovesca (Briviesca)
Antecuia (near Pancorbo, Burgos)
Diobriga or Deobriga (Miranda de Ebro)
Vindelia or Vindeleia (Cubo de Bureba)
Salonica (Poza de la Sal)

Towns of the Varduli:
By their approximate location, and by the localizations of the surrounding tribes and their towns, the Varduli should be placed in approximately the Biscaya and Guipuzkoa provinces. However, I was unable ot localize any of their towns:

Menosca (along the coast) ???
Gebala ???
Gabalaeca ???
Tullonium ???
Alba ???
Seguntia Paramica ???
Tritium Tuboricum ???
Thabuca ???

Towns of the Vascones:
Oeasso, a coastal town (Oiartzun, Basque Country)
Iturissa ???
Pompelon (Pamplona)
Bituris ???
Andelus ???
Nemanturista ???
Curnonium ???
Iacca ???
Gracuris (Alfaro?)
Calagorina or Calaguris (Calahorra?)
Cascantum ???
Ergavica ???
Tarraga ???
Muscaria ???
Setia ???
Alavona ???

Other features:
Deva river (inside Caristi territory) - Deba river
Nerva river (Autrigones territory, possibly the Aguera river)
The Cantabrian Ocean (The Bay of Biscay)
The Oeasso Promontory? (possibly 43°23'24'' N, 1°47'33'' W, which happens to be just near the French-Spanish border today)
 
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Actually, that one is very good. It already has most of the important rivers in it. And Britain doesn't looked "Squashed" as you described it. ;)

What I do wonder on however is how much information to put into said map.
 
Part #17 - Third Supplementary on Hispania (Celtiberia Proper, part of Hispania Tarraconensis)

Time Period: 2nd century AD
Location: northern Spain (western Aragon, northeastern Castille, La Rioja)

This installment covers the approximate territory of the Celtiberians who appropriately should be called so. Where available, I have added the Celtiberian name of a town. As this is a pure inland area, I have just given towns as reference points.

Towns of the Arevaci:
Confluenta (???)
Clunia (northeast of Coruña del Conte, Soria Province) - "Kolounioku" in Celtiberian
Termes or Termantia (Montejo de Tiermes, Soria Province)
Uxama Argaela (north of Osma, Soria Province) - "Uzamuz" in Celtiberian
Veluca or Voluce (Calatañazor, Soria Province)
Tucris (???)
Numantia - 41°48'36'' N, 2°26'37'' W (by it's coordinates, it should be in Pelendones territory, however)
Seguvia (???)
Nova Augusta (???)

Towns of the Berones:
Tritium Megallum (Tricio, La Rioja Province)
Oliba (???)
Varea or Vareia (eastwards from Logroño, La Rioja Province)

Towns of the Pelendones:
Visontium (Vinuesa, Soria Province
Augustobriga (Muro de Agreda, Soria Province)
Savia (???)

Other Celtiberian Towns:
Belsinum (???)
Turiasso (Tarazona)
Nertobriga of the Belli (Ricla near Almunia de Doña Godina, Zaragoza Province)
Bilbis or Bilbilis (near Calatayud)
Arcobriga (Monreal de Ariza)
Caesada (???)
Mediolum - possibly a corruption of "Mediolanum" (???)
Attacum (Ateca, Zaragoza Province)
Ergavica or Ercavica (near Cañaverulas)
Segobriga (Saelices de la Sal, Guadalejara Province)
Condabora (???)
Bursada (???)
Laxta (???)
Valeria (north of Las Valeras, Cuenca Province)
Istonium (???)
Alaba (???)
Libana (???)
Urcesa (???)
Lutia (Luzaga, Guadalajara province) - "Lutiakos" in Celtiberian, main city of the Lusones
 
Part #18 - Second Supplementary on Germania Magna

Time Period: 2nd century AD

This is only a rough outline on the tribes of Germania Magna in the 2nd century AD, based off Ptolemy's Geographia. Localization is very difficult because although Ptolemy gave town names, he didn't connect the towns with the tribes. Therefore, the exact localization of these tribes is very difficult.

There is also a few specific localization problems associated:

The first one is the Abnobaei mountains. This is a Celtic name, and they are usually identified as the Black Forest (which would make sense, name-wise). However, I am under the impression that the distance between the Abnobaei mountains and the Swabian Albs is just too large for this to work out. I thefore speculate if the Abnobei mountains are instead maybe the Taunus or the Hunsrück. But honestly, I am uncertain about that one, too.

The second, and far more problematic part is the so-called "Suevus river". Going by the order of rivers that Ptolemy mentions going into the Baltic Sea, this Suevus river is located between the Chalusus river (Trave) and the Viadua river (Oder). The problem is exacerbated by the fact that Ptolemy uses the Suevus on multiple times to localize certain tribes.

Then there are the "Melibocus" and "Asciburgius" mountains. There is a mountain in modern Hesse which is called "Melibocus", but the problem is that by the coordinates, this Melibocus is way too far in the west to fit.

Nonetheless, you can take this as a rough outline for the 2nd century AD. I will add a more detailed tribal outline focusing more on ethnic / linguistic lines, as well as a look at the Germanic tribes at the eve of the Migration Period.

Across the Rhine from Gallia Belgica:
- Bructeri minores
- Sugambri or Sucambrai
- Langobardi

between Rhine and Abnobaei mountains:
- Tencteri
- Incriones

from north to south, up to the Swabian Albs:
- Intuergi
- Vargiones
- Caritni
- Vispi
- "The Helvetian Desert" (presumably, this means the original area that was inhabited by the Helvetii and subsequently abandoned - it should correspond approximately with the modern area of Württemberg)

Along the ocean:
- Bructeros Frisii near the mouth of the Ems (Amisia)
- "Lesser Cauchi" - near the mouth of the Weser (Visurgis)
- "Greater Cauchi" -near the mouth of the Elbe (Albis)

On the Cimbrian Penninsula (south to north):
- Saxones
- Sigulones
- Sabalingii
- Cobandi
- Chali
- Fundusii
- Charudes

Beyond the Saxons:
- Farodini (between Trave and the "Suevus" river)
- Sidini
- Rugiclei at the Vistula (Rugians?)

Towards the interior:
- Suevi Angli (central area up to the Elbe)
- Suevi Semnones (from the Elbe up to the "Suevus" river)
- Burguntae (from the Suevus to the Vistula)

Chamae
Suevi Angrivarii
Laccobardi
Dulgubnii
Suevi Teutonoari
Viruni
Teutones
Avarni
Alvaeones

Silingae
Lugi Omani
Lugi Diduni (near the "Asciburgius mountains")
Calucones (near "Melibocus" mountain)
Camavi (near "Melibocus" mountain)
Corconti (south of the "Asciburgius mountains")
Lugi Buri (near the head of the Vistula)
Sidones
Cotini (edge of the western Carpathians)
Visburgii (along the Orcynian Valley)

East of the "Abnobeis" mountains:
- Suevos Casuari
- Nertereani
- Danduti
- Turoni (interestingly, there is a Gaulish tribe of the same name)
- Marvingi
- Chattae (Chattians, the ancestors of the Hessians)
- Tubanti
- Teuriochamae
- Varisti or Varisci
- Curiones
- Chaetuori
- Parmaecampi
- Marcomani
- Sudini
- Adrabaecampi
- Quadi
- Baemori
- Racatae

Tribes of Scandia:
- Chaedini (west, which would put them adjacent to the Øresund)
- Favonae (east)
- Firaesi (east)
- Finni (north)
- Gutae or Gautae (south) - Geats
- Dauciones (south)
- Levoni (central)
 
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I) Aquitanians
The Aquitanians were the ancestors of the modern Basques, and they lived in the approximate are of the modern Basque country, as well as adjacent areas.

Aquitanian tribes (in Hispania) include:
- Autrigones
- Caristii
- Vascones (origin of the name "Basques")
- Varduli

Had to point out this. Varduli, Caristii and Autrigones, though living in what is now the Basque autonomous community, were most definitely Celtic peoples. The Vascones who were present in the western Pyrenees and what is now Navarre/eastern Aragon, moved into the area later, either with the apathy or the connivence of the Romans (whose rule they had accepted relatively early).

Of interest is that there are apparent (though disputed) similarities between Basque, Aquitanian and the Iberian languages so it's probable they form a single language family and what we have from Aquitaine down to Andalusia is a single trip of land inhabited by pre-Indoeuropean peoples that for some reason or other weren't celtified when the Celts expanded to the western part of the Iberian Peninsula. Maybe these Celtic groups arrived by sea rather than by crossing the Pyrenees? :confused: If I'm not wrong Caesar himself said that the Aquitanians weren't Gauls but rather "Hispani", and another Roman author even said that non-Celtic Hispanic recruits had little trouble talking with the Picts in Britannia. This is interesting considering the Picts are though to be a reduct of the former Pre-Indoeuropean peoples of Western Europe as well.
 
This reminds me of something: the mouth region of the Guadalquivir river probably looked quite a bit different in Antiquity. What today are swampy lowlands probably were more like a shallow lake 2000 or 2500 years ago. Which in turn may easily explain why the city of Tartessos itself hasn't been found yet - it may very well be buried under plenty of mud. The river was also significantly more and farther navigable than today (up to Cordoba, whereas today, it's only possible to do that to Seville).

And then only in small boats. There is a project to carve the mud so bigger boats can navigate up to Seville, and the ecologists are fighting with teeth and nails against that because, they say, it will completely fuck up Doñana.

Now Doñana itself was either totally or partially submerged in the second millennium BC, under the waters of the so called Tartessian Gulf / Sinus Tartessicus. Centuries later it had drained enough to differenciate a lake up north (Lacus Ligustinus) that the Baetis/Guadalquivir crossed before reaching the Gulf and the Atlantic Ocean. An island either in the short section of the river between the lake and the gulf or in the middle of the gulf itself are popular suggestions for a location of "Tartessos City" for those who believe there is a relation between Tartessos and the Atlantis myth, since it apparently fits what is traditionally said of Atlantis capital (that it was in the middle of a lake crossed by a river). There are some maps of the ancient Andalusian coastline in Google Images.

Oh yeah, and then there is the fact that Cadiz was in an island quite distant of the mainland when it was founded around 1100 BC, rather than on a Peninsula.

The Ebro's "triangle" delta is even later BTW. IIRC its current shape could be post-Medieval even, and there wasn't the littlest hint of it in Roman times (when the Ebro was navigable up to Saragossa).
 
Had to point out this. Varduli, Caristii and Autrigones, though living in what is now the Basque autonomous community, were most definitely Celtic peoples. The Vascones who were present in the western Pyrenees and what is now Navarre/eastern Aragon, moved into the area later, either with the apathy or the connivence of the Romans (whose rule they had accepted relatively early).

The problem is that with exception of the Tartessians, Iberians and Celtiberians proper (who all used indigenous writing systems), as well as the Lusitanians (of whom we have some inscriptions from the Roman Period using Latin), there are no written sources by any native group of Iberia during the Antiquity. So, the best shot we have for identifying ethnicity are place names, personal names and deity names that are preserved in Roman sources. Thing is, after taking a closer look at the place names in the region, I have to agree on your assessment regarding the Varduli, Caristii and Autrigones.

Of interest is that there are apparent (though disputed) similarities between Basque, Aquitanian and the Iberian languages so it's probable they form a single language family and what we have from Aquitaine down to Andalusia is a single trip of land inhabited by pre-Indoeuropean peoples that for some reason or other weren't celtified when the Celts expanded to the western part of the Iberian Peninsula. Maybe these Celtic groups arrived by sea rather than by crossing the Pyrenees? :confused:

Well, Basque and Aquitanian were definitely related with each other (as I mentioned, there's the idea that Aquitanian is basically Old Basque). The problem with Iberian is that although we have partially deciphered it we know preciously little about their language.

Regarding the origin of the Celts on the Iberian penninsula, this is a very tough, long and controversial topic to which there is no satifying solution. The classical idea is that the Celts invade the Atlantic region en masse at the start of the Iron Age, however it is probably obsolete because the time frame is simply too short to explain the situation that we see by the 3rd century BC.

Then there is the 'usurper' hypothesis that the Celtic languages actually evolved on the Iberian penninsula and then spread from there towards the north and the east. What (heavily) speaks against this is the fact that Celtic is obviously an Indo-European language family, one that has close affinities with the Italic languages (as well as other extinct languages which we see in the Alpine region), and that the Indo-European languages in general came from the east. Also, Celtic language influence extends as far north and east as Silesia. This makes a very strong case that the Celtic languages actually developed in the east. Conversely, there's the clear presence of non-Celtic (Lusitanian) and entiely non-Indo-European (Basque, Iberian and Tartessian) languages on the penninsula. Secondly, from the archaeological perspective, we see several times over how innovations arrive in the Atlantic region from the east, and not vice versa. But, things are weird. To give you examples:

Influence of the (Proto-Celtic?) Urnfield Culture reaches the Iberian penninsula via Catalonia. By the 3rd century BC, that area is inhabited by the Iberians, and the Celtiberians only live further to the west. Of course, there's two easy explanations for that: first off, archaeological cultures do not automatically represent linguistic affiliations, secondly there's about a millennium of time between the Urnfield Culture and the Punic Wars. What must be said however is that the Celtiberians Proper (as late as the Roman Period) used cremation rituals and urns (just like the northern Iberians), which might suggest that they indeed derive from the Urnfield Culture.

The second issue is iron working, which arrives in the Iberian penninsula from two places. The first is by the south (Tartessos, via contact with the Mediterranean, which then spreads eastwards into the Iberian areas), the other is from the Central-European Hallstatt Culture. However, we get again a similar situation, as the (non-Celtic) Lusitanians are actually part of the area of Hallstatt influence. Finally, the Iberian penninsula is decisively NOT part of the La-Tene culture.

So yeah, there is no clear answer here, and it's entirely possible that there were already (though obviously not exclusively!) Celtic-speaking peoples living inside the area of the Atlantic Bronze Age. However, whatever the answer is, one critical issue should be considered: with high likelihood, the 'Celts' as we perceive them, at no point of time in history, constituted a unified ethnic group.

If I'm not wrong Caesar himself said that the Aquitanians weren't Gauls but rather "Hispani", and another Roman author even said that non-Celtic Hispanic recruits had little trouble talking with the Picts in Britannia. This is interesting considering the Picts are though to be a reduct of the former Pre-Indoeuropean peoples of Western Europe as well.

Regarding the language of the Aquitanians, I agree. However, if you take a look at the situation in Roman Aquitania (even Aquitania proper, that is, the area enclosed by the Garonne and the Pyrenees), there was definitely a number of overtly Gaulish tribes, in so far Caesar was certainly exaggerating, especially with arbitrarily drawing the lines at the Garonne and Seine, respectively, when dividing Gaul into Aquitania, Celtica and Belgica. Bear in mind, Bello Gallico is A LOT about politics and self-glorification. ;)

Regarding the Picts, it's the first time I hear this regarding the issue of intelligibility with Basque. I'd like to know where you got that from. Now, first off, the main problem is that the term "Picts" is an exonym coined by the Romans, and secondly, at least the inhabitants of the Lowlands were definitely (P-)Celtic-speaking peoples. In so far, the case for Pictish as a Pre-Indo-European language is rather spurious.
 
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Regarding the Picts, it's the first time I hear this regarding the issue of intelligibility with Basque. I'd like to know where you got that from. Now, first off, the main problem is that the term "Picts" is an exonym coined by the Romans, and secondly, at least the inhabitants of the Lowlands were definitely (P-)Celtic-speaking peoples. In so far, the case for Pictish as a Pre-Indo-European language is rather spurious.

Well, I suppose we shouldn't take that very seriously then. I'm not even sure where I got it from, but it was most likely some comment in the www.celtiberia.net forum years ago - a discussion forum where many people interested in Ancient History and Ancient Spain in particular intervene, but just a discussion forum after all.
 
Why not just use the QazaqBAM of the Eastern Hemisphere with rivers, and then crop out Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa?
 
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