A brief approach to Tartessos

[Athalafuns]

The Tartessian civilization of the SW Iberian Peninsula has been the subject of countless fantasies. Let's look at the only sample from this culture to find out something of value.


Female, J1c1b mtDNA, 700BC-500BC

Target: Spain_EIA_Tartessian:I12171
Distance: 3.9986% / 0.03998566
60.4 TUR_Barcin_N
21.0 WHG
16.0 Yamnaya_RUS_Samara
1.6 MAR_Taforalt
1.0 Nganassan


800BC-600BC
46.4 Spain_Navarra_EIA
30.4 Spain_IA
14.0 Italy_Sardinia_SantImbenia_RomanImperial.SG
9.2 Italy_Tuscany_Grosseto_Etruscan

1000BC-800BC
43.2 Spain_Menorca_LBA_new
24.2 Italy_IA_Republic.SG
22.4 Spain_LBA
10.2 France_GrandEst_LBA.SG

1200BC-1000BC
35.4 Spain_Aritgues_LBA
35.2 Spain_LBA
16.8 Italy_Sardinia_BA_Nuragic
12.6 Czechia_LBA_Knoviz_o3

1400BC-1200BC
90.8 Spain_MBA
5.8 Poland_Trzciniec_MBA
3.4 Montenegro_MLBA

1600BC-1400BC
30.0 Spain_SE_CabezoRedondo_BA
18.6 France_BA_Grotte_Mandrin
18.2 Spain_EBA
15.0 Italy_Broion_BA.SG
9.8 Spain_LaHorna_BA_1d.LHO001
8.4 Portugal_MBA.SG

1800BC-1600BC
32.0 Spain_MBA_Formentera_noUDG
28.8 Spain_EBA
26.0 Spain_BA.SG
13.2 Spain_Almoloya_Argar_Late

As we see in this last period, by the transit from Early to Middle Bronze Age, the Tartessian individual was 100% peninsular. In the later stages she will receive a minor Central European contribution, but during her own time she was once again 100% Mediterranean (see first period).

We cannot therefore affirm that the Tartessians were proto-Celtic as some authors claimed (not even culturally, and this is evident). It seems that they were simply aboriginal population with a minor IE contribution, just like the Basques, at least according to this sample.

Distance to: Spain_EIA_Tartessian:I12171
0.03890154 Basque_Navarre_North
0.03956819 Basque_Spanish
0.04044118 Basque_Navarre_Center
0.04117350 Spanish_La_Rioja
0.04162872 Basque_Gipuzkoa
0.04165109 French_South
0.04178661 Basque_Gipuzkoa_Southwest
0.04211856 French_Bigorre
0.04214718 Basque_Roncal
0.04239979 Basque_Soule
0.04310202 French_Chalosse
0.04329961 Basque_Biscay
0.04342519 Basque_Lower_Navarre
0.04383632 Basque_Baztan
0.04441838 Spanish_Aragon_North
0.04468574 French_Bearn
0.04501467 Spanish_Castello
0.04506571 Spanish_Burgos
0.04541877 Spanish_Biscay
0.04587991 Spanish_Pirineu
0.04610875 Spanish_Soria
0.04619192 Spanish_Cantabria
0.04695085 Basque_French
0.04734208 Spanish_Cataluna
0.04761123 Spanish_Aragon

https://i.postimg.cc/nrK72gG2/Tartessos-in-Iberia-svg.png (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/pLL8Q0hQ/Rostro-tart-sico-de-El-Turu-uelo-Badajoz-Fondo-blanco.jpg (https://postimg.cc/SJHJkfGj)
https://i.postimg.cc/8zYFRTVD/tesoro-del-carambolo-768x614.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/sXs3SL1s/Escrita-sudoeste-by-Henrique-Matos-004-02.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/rwRyLWvX/el-santuario-tartesico-de-cancho-roano-800x507.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[vader]

Such an underrated civilization.

[celticdragongod]

The Tartessian civilization of the SW Iberian Peninsula has been the subject of countless fantasies. Let's look at the only sample from this culture to find out something of value.


Female, J1c1b mtDNA, 700BC-500BC

Target: Spain_EIA_Tartessian:I12171
Distance: 3.9986% / 0.03998566
60.4 TUR_Barcin_N
21.0 WHG
16.0 Yamnaya_RUS_Samara
1.6 MAR_Taforalt
1.0 Nganassan


800BC-600BC
46.4 Spain_Navarra_EIA
30.4 Spain_IA
14.0 Italy_Sardinia_SantImbenia_RomanImperial.SG
9.2 Italy_Tuscany_Grosseto_Etruscan

1000BC-800BC
43.2 Spain_Menorca_LBA_new
24.2 Italy_IA_Republic.SG
22.4 Spain_LBA
10.2 France_GrandEst_LBA.SG

1200BC-1000BC
35.4 Spain_Aritgues_LBA
35.2 Spain_LBA
16.8 Italy_Sardinia_BA_Nuragic
12.6 Czechia_LBA_Knoviz_o3

1400BC-1200BC
90.8 Spain_MBA
5.8 Poland_Trzciniec_MBA
3.4 Montenegro_MLBA

1600BC-1400BC
30.0 Spain_SE_CabezoRedondo_BA
18.6 France_BA_Grotte_Mandrin
18.2 Spain_EBA
15.0 Italy_Broion_BA.SG
9.8 Spain_LaHorna_BA_1d.LHO001
8.4 Portugal_MBA.SG

1800BC-1600BC
32.0 Spain_MBA_Formentera_noUDG
28.8 Spain_EBA
26.0 Spain_BA.SG
13.2 Spain_Almoloya_Argar_Late

As we see in this last period, by the transit from Early to Middle Bronze Age, the Tartessian individual was 100% peninsular. In the later stages she will receive a minor Central European contribution, but during her own time she was once again 100% Mediterranean (see first period).

We cannot therefore affirm that the Tartessians were proto-Celtic as some authors claimed (not even culturally, and this is evident). It seems that they were simply aboriginal population with a minor IE contribution, just like the Basques, at least according to this sample.

Distance to: Spain_EIA_Tartessian:I12171
0.03890154 Basque_Navarre_North
0.03956819 Basque_Spanish
0.04044118 Basque_Navarre_Center
0.04117350 Spanish_La_Rioja
0.04162872 Basque_Gipuzkoa
0.04165109 French_South
0.04178661 Basque_Gipuzkoa_Southwest
0.04211856 French_Bigorre
0.04214718 Basque_Roncal
0.04239979 Basque_Soule
0.04310202 French_Chalosse
0.04329961 Basque_Biscay
0.04342519 Basque_Lower_Navarre
0.04383632 Basque_Baztan
0.04441838 Spanish_Aragon_North
0.04468574 French_Bearn
0.04501467 Spanish_Castello
0.04506571 Spanish_Burgos
0.04541877 Spanish_Biscay
0.04587991 Spanish_Pirineu
0.04610875 Spanish_Soria
0.04619192 Spanish_Cantabria
0.04695085 Basque_French
0.04734208 Spanish_Cataluna
0.04761123 Spanish_Aragon

https://i.postimg.cc/nrK72gG2/Tartessos-in-Iberia-svg.png (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/pLL8Q0hQ/Rostro-tart-sico-de-El-Turu-uelo-Badajoz-Fondo-blanco.jpg (https://postimg.cc/SJHJkfGj)
https://i.postimg.cc/8zYFRTVD/tesoro-del-carambolo-768x614.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/sXs3SL1s/Escrita-sudoeste-by-Henrique-Matos-004-02.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/rwRyLWvX/el-santuario-tartesico-de-cancho-roano-800x507.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

They seem to have been primarily EEF which means they were not aboriginal to Iberia. The population that was aboriginal to Iberia were the WHG.

[Gallop]

They seem to have been primarily EEF which means they were not aboriginal to Iberia. The population that was aboriginal to Iberia were the WHG.

It depends, perhaps the WHG were not aware of being on a peninsula that much later would be called Iberia.

[Gallop]

The Tartessian civilization of the SW Iberian Peninsula has been the subject of countless fantasies. Let's look at the only sample from this culture to find out something of value.


Female, J1c1b mtDNA, 700BC-500BC

Target: Spain_EIA_Tartessian:I12171
Distance: 3.9986% / 0.03998566
60.4 TUR_Barcin_N
21.0 WHG
16.0 Yamnaya_RUS_Samara
1.6 MAR_Taforalt
1.0 Nganassan


800BC-600BC
46.4 Spain_Navarra_EIA
30.4 Spain_IA
14.0 Italy_Sardinia_SantImbenia_RomanImperial.SG
9.2 Italy_Tuscany_Grosseto_Etruscan

1000BC-800BC
43.2 Spain_Menorca_LBA_new
24.2 Italy_IA_Republic.SG
22.4 Spain_LBA
10.2 France_GrandEst_LBA.SG

1200BC-1000BC
35.4 Spain_Aritgues_LBA
35.2 Spain_LBA
16.8 Italy_Sardinia_BA_Nuragic
12.6 Czechia_LBA_Knoviz_o3

1400BC-1200BC
90.8 Spain_MBA
5.8 Poland_Trzciniec_MBA
3.4 Montenegro_MLBA

1600BC-1400BC
30.0 Spain_SE_CabezoRedondo_BA
18.6 France_BA_Grotte_Mandrin
18.2 Spain_EBA
15.0 Italy_Broion_BA.SG
9.8 Spain_LaHorna_BA_1d.LHO001
8.4 Portugal_MBA.SG

1800BC-1600BC
32.0 Spain_MBA_Formentera_noUDG
28.8 Spain_EBA
26.0 Spain_BA.SG
13.2 Spain_Almoloya_Argar_Late

As we see in this last period, by the transit from Early to Middle Bronze Age, the Tartessian individual was 100% peninsular. In the later stages she will receive a minor Central European contribution, but during her own time she was once again 100% Mediterranean (see first period).

We cannot therefore affirm that the Tartessians were proto-Celtic as some authors claimed (not even culturally, and this is evident). It seems that they were simply aboriginal population with a minor IE contribution, just like the Basques, at least according to this sample.

Distance to: Spain_EIA_Tartessian:I12171
0.03890154 Basque_Navarre_North
0.03956819 Basque_Spanish
0.04044118 Basque_Navarre_Center
0.04117350 Spanish_La_Rioja
0.04162872 Basque_Gipuzkoa
0.04165109 French_South
0.04178661 Basque_Gipuzkoa_Southwest
0.04211856 French_Bigorre
0.04214718 Basque_Roncal
0.04239979 Basque_Soule
0.04310202 French_Chalosse
0.04329961 Basque_Biscay
0.04342519 Basque_Lower_Navarre
0.04383632 Basque_Baztan
0.04441838 Spanish_Aragon_North
0.04468574 French_Bearn
0.04501467 Spanish_Castello
0.04506571 Spanish_Burgos
0.04541877 Spanish_Biscay
0.04587991 Spanish_Pirineu
0.04610875 Spanish_Soria
0.04619192 Spanish_Cantabria
0.04695085 Basque_French
0.04734208 Spanish_Cataluna
0.04761123 Spanish_Aragon

https://i.postimg.cc/nrK72gG2/Tartessos-in-Iberia-svg.png (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/pLL8Q0hQ/Rostro-tart-sico-de-El-Turu-uelo-Badajoz-Fondo-blanco.jpg (https://postimg.cc/SJHJkfGj)
https://i.postimg.cc/8zYFRTVD/tesoro-del-carambolo-768x614.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/sXs3SL1s/Escrita-sudoeste-by-Henrique-Matos-004-02.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/rwRyLWvX/el-santuario-tartesico-de-cancho-roano-800x507.jpg (https://postimages.org/)


More samples would be needed to draw conclusions.

[R1b-L51]

The Tartessian civilization of the SW Iberian Peninsula has been the subject of countless fantasies. Let's look at the only sample from this culture to find out something of value.


Female, J1c1b mtDNA, 700BC-500BC

Target: Spain_EIA_Tartessian:I12171
Distance: 3.9986% / 0.03998566
60.4 TUR_Barcin_N
21.0 WHG
16.0 Yamnaya_RUS_Samara
1.6 MAR_Taforalt
1.0 Nganassan


800BC-600BC
46.4 Spain_Navarra_EIA
30.4 Spain_IA
14.0 Italy_Sardinia_SantImbenia_RomanImperial.SG
9.2 Italy_Tuscany_Grosseto_Etruscan

1000BC-800BC
43.2 Spain_Menorca_LBA_new
24.2 Italy_IA_Republic.SG
22.4 Spain_LBA
10.2 France_GrandEst_LBA.SG

1200BC-1000BC
35.4 Spain_Aritgues_LBA
35.2 Spain_LBA
16.8 Italy_Sardinia_BA_Nuragic
12.6 Czechia_LBA_Knoviz_o3

1400BC-1200BC
90.8 Spain_MBA
5.8 Poland_Trzciniec_MBA
3.4 Montenegro_MLBA

1600BC-1400BC
30.0 Spain_SE_CabezoRedondo_BA
18.6 France_BA_Grotte_Mandrin
18.2 Spain_EBA
15.0 Italy_Broion_BA.SG
9.8 Spain_LaHorna_BA_1d.LHO001
8.4 Portugal_MBA.SG

1800BC-1600BC
32.0 Spain_MBA_Formentera_noUDG
28.8 Spain_EBA
26.0 Spain_BA.SG
13.2 Spain_Almoloya_Argar_Late

As we see in this last period, by the transit from Early to Middle Bronze Age, the Tartessian individual was 100% peninsular. In the later stages she will receive a minor Central European contribution, but during her own time she was once again 100% Mediterranean (see first period).

We cannot therefore affirm that the Tartessians were proto-Celtic as some authors claimed (not even culturally, and this is evident). It seems that they were simply aboriginal population with a minor IE contribution, just like the Basques, at least according to this sample.

Distance to: Spain_EIA_Tartessian:I12171
0.03890154 Basque_Navarre_North
0.03956819 Basque_Spanish
0.04044118 Basque_Navarre_Center
0.04117350 Spanish_La_Rioja
0.04162872 Basque_Gipuzkoa
0.04165109 French_South
0.04178661 Basque_Gipuzkoa_Southwest
0.04211856 French_Bigorre
0.04214718 Basque_Roncal
0.04239979 Basque_Soule
0.04310202 French_Chalosse
0.04329961 Basque_Biscay
0.04342519 Basque_Lower_Navarre
0.04383632 Basque_Baztan
0.04441838 Spanish_Aragon_North
0.04468574 French_Bearn
0.04501467 Spanish_Castello
0.04506571 Spanish_Burgos
0.04541877 Spanish_Biscay
0.04587991 Spanish_Pirineu
0.04610875 Spanish_Soria
0.04619192 Spanish_Cantabria
0.04695085 Basque_French
0.04734208 Spanish_Cataluna
0.04761123 Spanish_Aragon

https://i.postimg.cc/nrK72gG2/Tartessos-in-Iberia-svg.png (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/pLL8Q0hQ/Rostro-tart-sico-de-El-Turu-uelo-Badajoz-Fondo-blanco.jpg (https://postimg.cc/SJHJkfGj)
https://i.postimg.cc/8zYFRTVD/tesoro-del-carambolo-768x614.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/sXs3SL1s/Escrita-sudoeste-by-Henrique-Matos-004-02.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/rwRyLWvX/el-santuario-tartesico-de-cancho-roano-800x507.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

A brief approach to Gallopessos

[celticdragongod]

It depends, perhaps the WHG were not aware of being on a peninsula that much later would be called Iberia.

It doesn't matter what they were aware of. What matters is that WHG were in Iberia before the EEF.

[cass]

It doesn't matter what they were aware of. What matters is that WHG were in Iberia before the EEF.


It was undoubtedly present and still is strong among the Basques.

https://i.ibb.co/QYYdr68/Zrzut-ekranu-17-11-2024-01210-vahaduo-github-io.jpg

[vader]

They seem to have been primarily EEF which means they were not aboriginal to Iberia. The population that was aboriginal to Iberia were the WHG.

That is, to some point, true; however, at one point, all groups migrated from one place to another. EEF is the combination of Anatolian farmers mingling with WHG. Both are the most prolific groups in Iberian genetics by far. The same was true at one point in Europe before the steppe people completely changed that dynamic - even to prevail in Iberia.

[R1b-L51]

It doesn't matter what they were aware of. What matters is that WHG were in Iberia before the EEF.

It has been known for a long time that Iberia (Sepharad), or whatever the hell you want to call it, was a refuge for the WHG during the Ice Age, with numerous archaeological testimonies such as the Braña Man, although it is also certainly picturesque, since the predominant group in Iberia before the arrival of populations with paternal haplogroups I and R, was the C, so that the Braña Man is a strange hybrid between an Australoid aborigine and a proto-Nordic, a large-sized type with apparently blue eyes.

These Iberian WHG R and I were replacing the C, and later as you say they mixed with the EEF, so that the original Iberians were very robust and were a great problem for the Romans since it took them 200 years to conquer Hispania.

However, we should also talk not only about the European-style WHG present in Iberia in populations such as the Celtiberians (who cut off arms from the Romans using giant steel falcatas and proto gladius hispaniensis), but also about the WHG from the northwest, whose heritage was not only Nordic, but were a mixture of Neolithic Berbers, with late WHG who came from the Hallsttat culture, which gave rise to other peoples even more dangerous than the Celtiberians, not only because they were strong and powerful like them, but also because they loved guerrilla wars and violence like the Moors. These groups, a mixture of Hallsttat and Africans, were the Astyr (Astures) and the Cantabri (Cantabrians), who were also related to the Gallaeci (Galicians).

In this way, the Iberian Peninsula became a melting pot of very dangerous tribes that were a mixture of Mediterranean populations with WHG.

Although it is true that the majority component is still Mediterranean and Celtic from the Iron Age invasions, and these two components are gradually phagocytizing our WHG and Marocco taforalt genes.

[R1b-L51]

That is, to some point, true; however, at one point, all groups migrated from one place to another. EEF is the combination of Anatolian farmers mingling with WHG. Both are the most prolific groups in Iberian genetics by far. The same was true at one point in Europe before the steppe people completely changed that dynamic - even to prevail in Iberia.

In reality, the Yamnaya steppe people did not manage to establish themselves in Iberia, as they were pushed aside by the Basques and ancient Iberians towards the northwest and west of the peninsula. However, these Yamnaya, who were initially weak by the standards of the peninsula, became truly dangerous when they mixed with other peninsular EEF/WHG and with the Berbers of the Neolithic period of western Iberia, giving rise to powerful tribes such as the Cantabri, Lusitani and Astyr.

[R1b-L51]

It has been known for a long time that Iberia (Sepharad), or whatever the hell you want to call it, was a refuge for the WHG during the Ice Age, with numerous archaeological testimonies such as the Braña Man, although it is also certainly picturesque, since the predominant group in Iberia before the arrival of populations with paternal haplogroups I and R, was the C, so that the Braña Man is a strange hybrid between an Australoid aborigine and a proto-Nordic, a large-sized type with apparently blue eyes.

These Iberian WHG R and I were replacing the C, and later as you say they mixed with the EEF, so that the original Iberians were very robust and were a great problem for the Romans since it took them 200 years to conquer Hispania.

However, we should also talk not only about the European-style WHG present in Iberia in populations such as the Celtiberians (who cut off arms from the Romans using giant steel falcatas and proto gladius hispaniensis), but also about the WHG from the northwest, whose heritage was not only Nordic, but were a mixture of Neolithic Berbers, with late WHG who came from the Hallsttat culture, which gave rise to other peoples even more dangerous than the Celtiberians, not only because they were strong and powerful like them, but also because they loved guerrilla wars and violence like the Moors. These groups, a mixture of Hallsttat and Africans, were the Astyr (Astures) and the Cantabri (Cantabrians), who were also related to the Gallaeci (Galicians).

In this way, the Iberian Peninsula became a melting pot of very dangerous tribes that were a mixture of Mediterranean populations with WHG.

Although it is true that the majority component is still Mediterranean and Celtic from the Iron Age invasions, and these two components are gradually phagocytizing our WHG and Marocco taforalt genes.

Furthermore, as far as I have been able to investigate, the presence of high yamnaya in regions such as Navarre, Aragon and Catalonia is due more to repopulation during the reconquest, for example in the capital of the kingdom of Pamplona the city was divided between Basques and Franks, and later Many current towns have medieval repopulation names, all those that, for example, are called Villafranca, where repopulation letters used to be given to large groups of Franks and even Germans.

[Gallop]

It doesn't matter what they were aware of. What matters is that WHG were in Iberia before the EEF.

It doesn't matter, WHG mixes with EEF and neither is what it was, new mutations occur, new mixes with others that arrive later, who would think that poor WHG alone would have had any development, maybe it was on the verge of extinction in one of the bottlenecks that occur in populations, everything that arrives and is included becomes part of what can be considered native.

Europe with an appendix is made up of the leftovers of others anyway.

[Gallop]

A brief approach to Gallopessos

Not a good approach to Gallopessos.


Since when does someone who returns to Spain, having been recarchut with America, decide how Spaniards should be?

Having two foreign lineages that I know of, I have more Spanish purity than you.

[Gallop]

The Tartessian civilization of the SW Iberian Peninsula has been the subject of countless fantasies. Let's look at the only sample from this culture to find out something of value.


Female, J1c1b mtDNA, 700BC-500BC

Target: Spain_EIA_Tartessian:I12171
Distance: 3.9986% / 0.03998566
60.4 TUR_Barcin_N
21.0 WHG
16.0 Yamnaya_RUS_Samara
1.6 MAR_Taforalt
1.0 Nganassan






Spain_Almoloya_Argar_Early-ALM014
Territory: Spain - La Almoloya (Murcia, Pliego)
Molecular Sex: M
Datation: 2000-1750 BCE
Predicted Y-DNA: R1b1a1b1a1a2
Predicted mtDNA: U5b1+16189

Ancient Model from Davidsk
TUR_Barcin_N: 74.47 %
WHG: 22.08 %
Yamnaya_RUS_Samara: 2.39 %
Nganassan: 1.06 %


There is a very significant increase of Yamnaya in all that time, the WHG remains almost the same, which leads me to think that it is an emigration from Iberia itself, centre, centre-north to the south.

[R1b-L51]

Not a good approach to Gallopessos.


Since when does someone who returns to Spain, having been recarchut with America, decide how Spaniards should be?

Having two foreign lineages that I know of, I have more Spanish purity than you.

Estimado Galop, he viajado bastante por Europa, incluso he llegado a vivir en Francia, y también he visitado Asia en varias ocasiones, especialmente las antiguas colonias de Filipinas, pero por designio del destino nunca he llegado a visitar América. A mayor abundamiento, quizás estés somatizando tus miedos a no ser ibérico...algo bastante estúpido si tenemos en cuenta que la península ha sido un hervidero de civilizaciones.

Dear Galop, I have traveled a lot in Europe, I have even lived in France and I have visited Asia on several occasions, especially the former Philippine colonies, but as fate would have it, I have never visited America. In addition, perhaps you are somatizing your fears of not being Iberian... something quite stupid if we take into account that the peninsula has been a hotbed of civilizations.

134622
134623
134624

[Etelfrido]

I'm curious as to their language's classification. There were some attempts to classify it as Celtic but it's highly controversial and has been rejected by a number a scholars like Blanca María Prósper.


The oldest language attested in an area that today covers most of southern Portugal and small parts of Spanish Extremadura has traditionally been labelled Tartessian, in spite of the fact that its relationship with the so called Tartessian empire (whose archaeological remains have been uncovered in Andalusia, to the east of this region), is far from clear.

[...] I shall begin by saying I find no a priori reason to rule out a Celtic classification of Tartessian. But it is important to note that this idea, originally put forward by José Antonio Correa, rests on the interpretation of a large number of words as Celtic personal names (in fact, a third part of the corpus in Koch’s approach). As is obvious to nearly every linguist (including Koch, but interestingly not some of the works on Lusitanian that he quotes), proper names are not diagnostic of the genetic appurtenance of the language in which the text is conducted. This is why –briga place names mentioned in indigenous Lusitanian inscriptions contribute nothing to the study of Lusitanian. People travel, and the allusion to persons bearing Celtic names in ancient epigraphy, whether Celtic or not, is entirely unproblematic. But this faces us with a problem that is seldom reckoned with: If the matrix language of the SW epigraphy is not Celtic, but nearly a third part of its contents consists of Celtic personal names, these may have been borrowed (or simply consigned in writing) long after the dawn of literacy, and consequently may reflect the actual synchronic phonetics of SW Celtic dialects more faithfully than the non–Celtic appellative vocabulary, which is constrained by writing tradition. This inconvenience is often encountered by scholars analyzing texts containing onomastic material, for instance K.1.3 (Botorrita) and often contaminates the results of the research if no arguments extra causam are found in support of the appurtenance of the posited sound changes to the language in which the inscription is conducted: e. g. Koch’s bootiieana (J.18.1) = /bód´eaná/ < *boudianá is quite obvious, but this does not automatically entail that we have a thorough understanding of what the monophthongization and the palatalization actually mean in historical terms, unless they are consistently detected in the appellative vocabulary. That the vocabulary as a whole is reflective of a Celtic dialect, that this is the dialect for which the syllabary was created, and that consequently all these innovations have taken place comparatively early in the first millennium is not borne out by the research.


Koch’s grammar is ingenious, although mostly based on onomastic material, which may well be Celtic irrespective of the content of the inscriptions, and a variety of verb forms. It is also, so to speak, self–contained; to test its validity one has to check the position of every particular word in the sentence. Unfortunately, the interpretation of the inscriptions falls outside the scope of this review, since Koch has not included any translations apart from those he ascribes to the particular words or phrases, whose meaning and morphology are said to fit in the context. Additionally, Koch has not displayed a full– fledged phonological and morphological account of Tartessian, which is imperative in this kind of work.

[...] This study is insufficiently documented and contains many presuppositions to meet Koch’s requirements. His views should be better grounded, and contradictions laid bare and justified. The previous literature is chosen so as not to contradict his views, except when they have been directly attacked.

https://www.academia.edu/7649315/Some_observations_on_the_classification_of_Tartess ian_as_a_Celtic_language