The Iberians were a set of peoples that Greek and Roman sources identified with
that name in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula, at
least from the 6th century BC. The term Iberian, as used by the ancient
authors, had two distinct meanings. One, more general, referred to all the
populations of the Iberian peninsula without regard to ethnic differences.
The other, more restricted, with an ethnic sense, to the people living in
the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula, which by the 6th
century BC had absorbed cultural influences from the Phoenicians and the
Greeks. Groups
The Iberians were not a clearly defined culture, ethnic group or political
entity. The name is instead a blanket term for a number of peoples belonging
to a pre-Roman Iron Age culture inhabiting the eastern and southeastern
Iberian peninsula and who have been historically identified as "Iberian".
Although these peoples shared certain common features, they diverged widely in
some respects. The Roman and Greek sources often
diverge about the precise location of each Iberian people and also about the
list of Iberian peoples. There are some doubts about the ethno-linguistic
affiliation of some of the peoples generally defined as Iberians, which
included the Airenosi, Andosini, Ausetani, Bastetani, Bergistani,
Castellani, Cessetani, Ceretani, Contestani, Edetani, Elisyces, Iacetani,
Ilercavones, Ilergetes, Indigetes, Lacetani, Laietani, Oretani, Sedetani,
Sordones, Suessetani, Turdetani and Vescetani or Oscenses. An unknown named
tribe or tribes in the Balearic Islands may have been Iberian also.
History The Iberians lived in isolated
communities based on a tribal organization. They also had a knowledge
of metalworking, including bronze, and agricultural techniques. In the
centuries preceding Carthaginian and Roman conquest, Iberian settlements grew
in social complexity, exhibiting evidence of social stratification and
urbanization. This process was probably aided by trading contacts with the
Phoenicians, Greeks, and Carthaginians. Among the most important goods traded by
the Iberians were precious metals, tin and copper.
The Phoenicians established their first colony on the Iberian Peninsula in 1100
BC, and probably made contact with Iberians then or shortly thereafter. The
Phoenician colony was originally called Gadir. Later, the Roman renamed it
Gades. Greek colonists made the first
historical reference to the Iberians in the 6th century BC. The Greeks also
dubbed as "Iberians" another people, currently known as Caucasian Iberians.
It is not known if there had been any type of connection between the two
peoples. = Origins =
Iberian origins are not clear. However it is suggested that they arrived in
Spain in the Neolithic period, with their arrival being dated from as early
as the fifth millennium BC to the third millennium BC. Most scholars adhering to
this theory believe from archaeological, anthropological and genetic evidence
that the Iberians came from a region farther east in the Mediterranean.
Others have suggested that they may have originated in North Africa. The Iberians
would have settled along the eastern coast of Spain.
= External influences = The Iberians traded extensively with
other Mediterranean cultures. Iberian pottery has been found in France, Italy,
and North Africa. The Iberians also had extensive contact with Greek colonists.
The Iberians may have adopted some of the Greeks' artistic techniques. Statues
such as the Lady of Baza and the Lady of Elx are thought to have been made by
Iberians relatively well acquainted with Greek art. Thucydides stated that one of
the three original tribes of Sicily, the Sicani, were of Iberian origin, though
"Iberian" at the time could have included what we think of as Gaul.
The Iberians were placed under Carthaginian rule for a short time
between the First and Second Punic Wars. They supplied troops to Hannibal's army.
The Romans subsequently conquered the Iberian Peninsula and slowly supplanted
the local culture with their own. Iberian culture
= Iberian language = The Iberian language, like the rest of
the paleohispanic languages, became extinct by the 1st to 2nd centuries AD,
after being gradually replaced by Latin. Iberian seems to be a language isolate.
It is generally considered as a non-Indo-European language. Links with
many other languages have been claimed and translations have been proposed, but
they have not been successfully demonstrated. A 1978 study claimed many
similarities between Iberian and the Messapic language. Another proposed link
is with the Basque language, but this theory is also strongly disputed.
= Iberian scripts = The Iberians use three different scripts
to represent the Iberian language. Northeastern Iberian script
Dual variant Non-dual variant
Southeastern Iberian script. Greco-Iberian alphabet
Northeastern Iberian script and southeastern Iberian script share a
common distinctive typological characteristic, also present in other
paleohispanic scripts: they present signs with syllabic value for the
occlusives and signs with monofonematic value for the rest of consonants and
vowels. From a writing systems point of view they are neither alphabets nor
syllabaries, they are mixed scripts that normally are identified as
semi-syllabaries. About this common origin, there is no agreement between
researchers: for some this origin is only linked to the Phoenician alphabet
while for others the Greek alphabet had participated too.
= Art = The Iberians produced sculpture in stone
and bronze, most of which was much influenced by the Greeks and
Phoenicians. The styles of Iberian sculpture are divided geographically
into Levantine, Central, Southern, and Western groups, of which the Levantine
group displays the most Greek influence. See also
Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula
Lucentum Iberian language
Iberian scripts References
Further reading Beltrán, Miguel: Los iberos en Aragón,
Zaragoza. Ruiz, Arturo; Molinos, Manuel: Los
iberos, Barcelona. Sanmartí, Joan; Santacana, Joan: Els
ibers del nord, Barcelona. Sanmartí, Joan: «La conformación del
mundo ibérico septentrional», Palaeohispanica 5, pp. 333–358.
External links Detailed map of the Pre-Roman Peoples of
Iberia Iberian Epigraphy Page, by J.R. Ramos