Varduli
Encyclopedia
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
historians reported in Northern Hispania
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
, west of the Vascones and east of the Caristii
Caristii
The Caristii were a tribe reported by Roman historians in Northern Hispania west of the Deba and east of the Nervion rivers, in modern Biscay and Alava...
and the Deba
Deba
- Geography :*Deba, Gipuzkoa, a town in the Basque Country*Deba , a river in the Basque Country*Deba, Nigeria, a town in the Yamaltu/Deba Local Government Area of Gombe State- Other :*Deba bocho, a Japanese type of kitchen knife...
river, comprising the main part of the current Basque province of Gipuzkoa and parts of Alava
Álava
Álava is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Álava. Its capital city is Vitoria-Gasteiz which is also the capital of the autonomous community...
and Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
. Their main city was Ara-Caeli (modern Uharte-Arakil
Uharte-Arakil
Uharte-Arakil is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain.-External links:*...
, Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
). Some ancient names, such as Suessatium (probably related to the Belgic
Belgae
The Belgae were a group of tribes living in northern Gaul, on the west bank of the Rhine, in the 3rd century BC, and later also in Britain, and possibly even Ireland...
Suessiones
Suessiones
The Suessiones were a Belgic tribe of Western Belgium in the 1st century BC, inhabiting the region between the Oise and the Marne, based around the present-day city of Soissons...
and the Suessetani in Aragon
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
), point to a Indoeuropean –or, rather, typically Celtic– origin, while the ethnic affiliation remains unclear since currently most place-names are linguistically of Basque lexical origin.
Field research and recent archaeological findings, such as the non existence of stone circles in the inhabiting area of the Varduli, have pointed to a culture other than that of the Vascones. The contact line between both tribes has been pinpointed at the Leitzaran
Leitzaran
The Leitzaran is a river and a valley in the Navarre and the Basque Country . It flows into the river Oria from its right.Its source is in the Leitza municipality in Navarre, and it is 42 km long. It enters into Gipuzkoa in a place called Urto...
River, with the hill-fort unearthed at the eastern side of Buruntza
Buruntza
Buruntza is a minor mount in the Basque Country 12 km south of San Sebastian. Several towns lie at its foot, namely Andoain , Lasarte-Oria and Urnieta . The mount stretches out in a north-east to south-west disposition, starting at the pass of Azkorte on to a quarry at the southern end, by...
presumably belonging to the Varduli.
Their ethnonym (Varduli) is connected with an area that is referred to in documents from the early Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
as Bardulia, which is identified as the cradle of Old Castile
Old Castile
Old Castile is a historic region of Spain, which included territory that later corresponded to the provinces of Santander , Burgos, Logroño , Soria, Segovia, Ávila, Valladolid, Palencia....
.