page_title: Origin of the Basques
section_title: Basque-Iberism
hierarchical_section_title: Origin of the Basques / Alternative theories / Basque-Iberism
caption_attribution_description: Español: Anverso y reverso del Denario (moneda íbera) con la inscripción Barscunes. Denario (moneda ibérica) de la ceca de Barscunes (Pamplona o Rocafort) del siglo I o II antes de Cristo Euskara: Baskunes legenda duen zilarrezko txanpona (denarioa).
context_page_description: The origin of the Basques and the Basque language is a controversial topic that has given rise to numerous hypotheses. Modern Basque, a descendant or close relative of Aquitanian and Proto-Basque, is the only Pre-Indo-European language that is extant in western Europe. The Basques have therefore long been supposed to be a remnant of a pre-Indo-European population of Europe.
  The main hypotheses about the origin of the Basques are:
  Native origin, the mainstream theory, according to which the Basque language would have developed over the millennia entirely between the north of the Iberian Peninsula and the current south of France, without the possibility of finding any kind of relationship between the Basque language and other modern languages in other regions.
  Basque-Iberism theorizes the existence of a kinship between the Basque and the Iberian language, and therefore between their speakers. Others claim there is not a direct connection, including Koldo Mitxelena who claims the similarities between Iberian and Basque are attributed solely to the relationship of vicinity, and not to any kinship.
context_section_description: The theory of the Basque-Iberism claims that there is a direct relationship between the Basque language and the Iberian language, meaning either that Basque evolved out of the Iberian language, or that its precursor belonged to the same language family. The first author to suggest this theory was Strabo in the 1st century BC (at a time when the Iberian language was still spoken); he asserted that the Iberians and the Aquitanians were similar physically and that they spoke similar languages and had similar customs.
  The German linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt proposed, in the early 19th Century, a thesis in which he stated that the Basque people were Iberians, following some studies that he had conducted.
caption: Sides of an Iberian coin with the inscription Baskunes.
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