Ibères

The Ibères , thus called by the Greek , were the first people of the Iberian peninsula. They probably train a group of pre-Celtic people and not a family of people; indeed, it is difficult to establish their relationship. Among the people ibères one counts the Cynésiens, the Turdétans, the Mastinis, the Vascons, the Aquitains, the Ibéro-Ligurians; later, after the migrations of the Celtic people, one will find the Celtibères.

Origins

The origin of Ibères at the very least goes up at the beginning of the Neolithic Mediterranean with the culture of the farmer-fishermen of the ceramics impresso-cardiale which extended from the Adriatique in the Occident, significantly influencing the tribes of hunters-gatherers of the Mesolithic remained rather primitive and by comparing all the coastal regions of the Western Mediterranean to thousand-year-old V°. At the time épicardiale (- 4500/-3500), they are subdivided in several branches, of which that which occupies us here. Towards -2600 develops in Eastern Andalusia the civilization Chalcolithique of Los Millares , closely related to that of Vila Nova with the Portugal, and perhaps (it is not proven), with those of the Eastern Mediterranean, of Cyprus in fact. Towards approximately -1800, this culture is supplanted by that of El Argar (bronzes) which develops independently and seems very influenced in its phase B (from -1500) by the contemporary Aegean cultures (burials in Pithoi). Towards -1300, at the time of the Celtic invasions in the North-East of the peninsula, El Argar, which could very well be a centralized state, yields the step to a culture post-Argar, independent strengthened villas, at the same place. After the foundation of Marseilles by the phocéens (towards -600), Ibères reconquer the North-East on the Celts, allowing the creation of new Greek counters the south of the the Pyrenees.

Development

The development of a new culture (which will give rise to the Iberian culture) in raising and in the south coincides with the Indo-European invasions . The culture of El Argar, certainly the product of a mixture between the local population post-Neolithic era and of the enquiring Eastern metal emigrants (Syrian of Minor Asia and undoubtedly so Egyptian), this culture was already declining. But in south-east existed also another culture, formed by the mixture of the local Neolithic population and the emigrants crétois or culture crétoise. It had extended its operating range to the Neolithic populations of the the Maghreb from which some cultural aspects had been borrowed. These two cultures thus had access to the Celtic imports in addition to being in liaison with the Greek colonists and phenicians. It is probable that the inhabitants of Tartessos and the Berbères are related.

The imitation of the cultures Celtic, Greek and phenician caused fine the rapid of the cultures preexistent and their substitution by news, very similar between them, in their origin and their evolution: each one proceeded of the mixture between the men of the Neolithic era and the Bronze Age and the emigrants Eastern and evolved/moved by imitating the foreign forms not imposed but assumed well voluntarily, in the same amount of time. They adopted or accepted various names: that of the south was known like that of Tartessos and that of north like that of Ibères. The Iberian culture is posterior at year -600 on the coast of raising since Cartagène, in direction of north.

Birth and blooming of the Iberian culture

Iberian civilization extended on the major part of the areas in which had existed the former cultures like that of Almeria, of Los Millares and El Argar which was the principal hearth. It passed then towards the north of Segura where existed another civilization which, although it had known and used metals, showed Neolithic characteristics or partially of the Bronze Age. Then, Iberian civilization extended later towards the Catalogne and the French Mediterranean coast (future the Septimanie), in a fast expansion like had been to it its appearance.

The Iberian culture emerges indeed quickly and appears immediately consolidated. One passes from a culture of the Bronze Age of the type El Argar (- 1500/-700) to a culture of the type fragmentary Hallstatt (in north of Valence and with Almeria) then to the Iberian culture itself.

The most probable assumption is that the local population of Eastern origin métissée with the autochtones mixed towards -1100 with a group pertaining to the Peuples of the Sea, which remained in contact with its ground of origin undoubtedly located on the side of the Pont . Two elements being melted, continuous Eastern influences (brought by the group of the People of the Sea undoubtedly originating in Anatolia, the tartessienne influence (- 1100 to -900.), the phenician influence and libico-phenician (- 900 to -700 the Greek influence (- 700 to -600) and the very probable influence Punique of Ibiza (after -654) allowed the blossoming of the Iberian culture, like elsewhere and at the same time and in similar circumstances the Etruscan Civilization had been able to emerge.

We know that one of the components of the people Étrusque, (the Tyrrhéniens ), was initially Aegean people established in Lydie which emigrated with the Peuples of the Sea and which is established in Tuscany before -1150. The Tyrrhéniens maintained contacts with their ground of origin, and that where they had settled being rich in minerals and particularly in iron, it was necessary to make come from the East from the technicians and other specialists who, mixed on the spot with the autochtones which knew already the work of metals, contributed to improve the technique of it, thus provocant the blossoming of the Etruscan Civilization which we know.

In Ibérie, the same process would have been slower since the punic and Greek influences did not arrive before -700/-600. The tartessiennes influences and phenicians have, as one already saw, their importance in this process, but not in a decisive way; the most important contribution being determining on the creation of the Alphabet ibère.

The Iberian culture emerges immediately afterwards in the area of the current province of Alicante, extending from north in the south of raising. To the south, it tends to merge with the culture tartessienne with which it is related. In north, populations are established concerned with the culture of declining Hallstatt, to which it is easy to export the more advanced Iberian culture which opens out there, exceeding the initial hearth sometimes. Towards -500, the tendencies determined by Ibères were essential in all raising it and towards - 400 to Catalonia, continuing their expansion also in the north of the Pyrenees. The tribes of the Cerdagne, Andorre are thus ibérisées probably, Val of Aran and others more in the west of which we are unaware of the exact name. The Iberian culture met, by going up the Ebre, the result of the Indo-European culture of Hallstatt, known as of Tène, which was on the way to completely supplant that of Hallstat which still perdurait.

Why the Iberian culture develop did so quickly? It should be been appropriate that all the objective conditions were met with this intention. In all the interested zone, the clock had remained stopped with the dawns of the Bronze Age and the Indo-European contributions had not been determining. It is probable that an improvement would have intervened with the wire of time at these populations which would have ended up initially taking note of the progress brought by the proto-Celts then by the Celts, by the colonists phenicians and Greeks then.

This rapid expansion of the Iberian zone of culture was more due to the adoption on behalf of the populations Indigène S of the novel modes of life, by copying the close populations, that with an ethnic and military expansion of the ibères since their original cradle. Actually, there never existed true people ibère; the fact is that the inhabitants in loco at the period given, possibly amalgamated with emigrants of the south or by natural evolution on the spot, the foreign uses of the culture called Iberian adopted in rapid expansion, adopting (or receiving) then the name of Ibères, corollary of the population subjected of itself to the aforementioned culture (one wanted to see in this name a derivative of Iber = Èbre, undoubtedly because a tribe of the same name was installed there), of Murcie in Septimanie.

Thus would be explained the differences between the various Iberian regional groups, existing well before the expansion ibère, which one finds the reflection still today.

The language of Ibères

A Caucasian origin of Ibères (in the meaning that we gave some) is to be drawn aside. This identification is mainly based on linguistic affinities with Ibères of the the Caucasus (today Géorgiens) and on the proper name of these people, since old Géorgiens were called indeed Ibères, coincidence which drew the attention of the historians and the linguists. They would be two groups released of a base joint to one remote time, towards -1300/-1200 perhaps, which knew then each one a clean evolution, preserving only some common characteristics. Ibères Western, groups in any case reduced, mixed with the local populations by losing their ethnic characteristics and by preserving only certain linguistic affinities, because the peninsular language also had to be maintained.

The language of the ibères, which made run much ink but that nobody forever been able to decipher (many attempts having arrived to no conclusive result), must derive, with its Eastern influences, of the Neolithic language which was spoken in the zone in which this culture developed. This would explain the resemblances observed to the vascon, of the same Neolithic root but with different influences, evolving/moving in lasting isolation of the millenia. As could one say as the Neolithic language best preserved was that of the Pyrenean populations (in spite of the Celtic influences) and of Barscons (with less marked Celtic influences) while that of Ibères themselves showed influences of Eastern origin. Among those, the last was perhaps that of Aegean people pertaining to the group of the People of the Sea, of which a part would have been established before in the area of the the Caucasus; the language of the tartessiens showing on the other hand influences originating in North Africa, inter alia.

The blooming of the Iberian culture thus occurred during a relatively short period, between -500 and -300. Following what, this time a true expansion of quarrelsome nature started which gave place to the iberisation of the territories bordering.

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