Late basquenization

In linguistics and ethnography, the late basquenization (from Spanish "vasconización tardía") is the hypothesis, defended by many experts, which places in V or VI CE the arrival of the first Basque-speakers in north-eastern Iberia from Aquitaine. None of its theories is completely accepted. Some archaeological findings seem to confirm the presence of the Basque language in Álava between III and IV CE, which constitutes an important argument against some strands of this theory.

Main living theories

The Basque language is a non-Indo-European language which has resisted successive migrations of technologically superior peoples (Celts, German tribes, Romans, Moors) in western Europe since Neolithic times until nowadays. Even if the antiquity of the language is seldom doubted, there are many important aspects which are open to questioning and controversies.

There are two main hypotheses concerning the habitat the Basque language has inhabited throughout history:

* The Basque has occupied its current homeland (western Pyrenees, coinciding with the territories of Navarra and the Autonomous community of the Basque Country) since prehistory;
* At the end of the Roman republic and during the first centuries of the Empire, a migration of Basque-speakers from Aquitaine overlaps with an autochthonous population whose most ancient substrate would be Indo-European. [Francisco Villar, Blanca M. Prósper (2005), Vascos, Celtas e Indoeuropeos. Genes y lenguas. Salamanca: Universidad de Salamanca] The migration proceding from Aquitaine would increase with peaks in the VI and VII centuries. [Villar, Prosper, Ibid, p.513]

The later hypothesis, known as the late basquenization of the Basque depression, has been defended by historians and philologists such as Claudio Sánchez Albornoz, Manuel Gómez Moreno, Jürgen Untermann and Francisco Villar. The Basque-Spanish linguist Koldo Mitxelena raised important objections against that hypothesis; however, recent archaeological findings of Aquitanian morphology (as it is presumed by the analysis performed by such authors as Agustín Azkarate, Iñaki García Camino, Mikel Unzueta, and others) point to an important migration dated in the V-VI centuries and give the theory a new breath.

In his 2008 book "Historia de las Lenguas de Europa" (History of the Languages of Europe), the Spanish philologist and hellenist Francisco Rodríguez Adrados has updated the debate by arguing that the Basque language is older in Aquitaine than in the Spanish Basque country, and it now inhabits its current territory because of pressure of the Celtic invansions. [ [http://www.abc.es/hemeroteca/historico-28-02-2008/abc/Cultura/el-vasco-es-mas-antiguo-en-aquitania-que-en-el-pais-vasco_1641682596483.html "El vasco es mas antiguo em Aquitania que en el pais vasco"] ]

Evidence

According to this perspective, over a more ancient autochthonous Indo-European occupation, evidence appears of important Celtic establishments in the current territory of the Basque Country (though apparently not in the Pyrenean valleys of Navarre). Both cultures coexisted, the Celtic elements being socially predominant, until the arrival of the Romans. This is observed all over Álava and Biscay, thus being concluded that the Caristii and Varduli were not Basque tribes or peoples, but that they were Indo-Europeans like their neighbors Autrigones, Cantabri, and Beroni. That is, the first autochthonous peoples over those areas were not Pre-Indo-European Basques, as it has been traditionally assumed, but they would be Indo-European. Or at least such Indo-Europeans extensively and deeply imposed themselves over the previous Pre-Neolithic substrate. Later, it is observed that both Álava and Navarre were strongly romanized. The well known part of the Basque depression called "saltus" was only barely inhabited, and at the places where it was there was evidence of Roman vestiges. According to Julio Caro Baroja, el "ager" (another part of the Basque depression) was as romanized as the rest of the Iberian Peninsula. So, when did the Basque language arrived there and where did it came from? The answer that sustains this hypothesis is that the Basque language expansion occurred between the V and IX centuries, much later than currently believed.

Late basquenization is supported by the following evidences:

* Abundance of ancient Indo-European onomasty before Romanization (as pointed by María Lourdes Albertos Firmat). [Francisco Villar(2001), La complessità dei livelli di stratificazione indoeuropea nell’Europa occidentale, in G. Bocchi e M. Ceruti (eds.), Le radici prime dell’Europa. Gli intrecci genetici, linguistici, storici, Bruno Mondatori, Milano,pp. 209-234. “"As far as the Basques are concerned, it is on the contrary unsure whether their presence in the Iberian peninsula was particularly extended or dense. Very few place or people names of Basque etymology can be traced in ancient sources, even in those concerning the historically Basque areas; in these too ancient place and people names have a prevailing"IE character."” Translation by Mario Alinei [http://www.continuitas.com/intro.html] (2003).]
* Absence of vestiges in Basque language prior to romanization, in stark contrast with Aquitaine.
* Deep romanization of the Basque depression (both the "ager" and the "saltus", as indicated by Caro Baroja and Juan José Cepeda).
* Expansion of the Basque language at the Early Middle Ages.
* Homogeneity of the Basque dialects at the Early Middle Ages (pointed out by Luis Michelena).
* Archaeological vestiges (Aldaieta, Alegría, etc.)
* The genetic boundary between the Basques and their southern neighbors is quite abrupt, while it has a more diffuse character between Basques and their northern neighbors, which might indicate a displacement from Aquitaine to the south. (Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza). [Cited in "History of Basque" by Larry Trask, page 9.]

References

Bibliography

*María Lourdes Albertos (1974) "El culto a los montes entre los galaicos, astures y berones y algunas de las deidades más significativas." Estudios de Arqueología Alavesa 6:147-157. ISSN 0425-3507
*Agustín Azkárate (1993) "Francos, aquitanos y vascones al sur de los Pirineos." Archivo Español de Arqueología. 66:149-176. ISSN 0066-6742
*Agustín Azkárate (2004) "El País Vasco en los siglos inmediatos a la desaparición del Imperio Romano." En "Historia del País Vasco. Edad Media (siglos V-XV)":23-50.
*Julio Caro Baroja (1945) "Materiales para una historia de la lengua vasca en su relación con la latina".
*Juan José Cepeda (1999) Dos depósitos monetarios de época altomedieval romana procedentes de Aloria (Álava). "CSDIC": 215-228.
*Juan José Cepeda. 2001. "El yacimiento arqueológico de Aloria".
*Iñaki García Camino. 2002. "Arqueología y poblamiento en Bizkaia, siglos VI-XII".
*Manuel Gómez Moreno. 1951. De epigrafía vizcaína." Boletín de la Real Academia de Historia" 128:210-217.
*Luis Michelena. 1988. "Sobre historia de la lengua vasca".
*Claudio Sánchez Albornoz. 1976. "Vascos y navarros en su primera historia".
*Theo Vennemann. 2003. "Europa Vasconica - Europa Semítica. Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs" 138.
*Francisco Villar & Blanca María Prósper (2005) "Vascos, celtas e indoeuropeos. Genes y lenguas".
*Mikel Unzueta. 1994. Indigenismo prerromano en la vertiente cantábrica del País Vasco: fuentes documentales y contexto arqueológico. "Illuntzar" 94:101-112.
*Mikel A. Unzueta, J. A. Ocharan. 1999. Aproximación a la conquista romana del Cantábrico oriental: el campamento o campo de batalla de Andagoste (Cuartango, Álava). "Regio Cantabrorum": 125-142.
*Larry Trask (1997) "The history of Basque".