Autrigones

It is discussed whether the Autrigones were Celts, theory supported by the existence of toponyms of Celtic origin, such as Uxama Barca and other with -briga endings[1] and that eventually underwent a Basquisation along with other neighboring tribes such as the Caristii and Varduli.

[5] The toponyms of rivers, as the Nervión, the anthroponyms, the archeological remains, tools and weapons relate them culturally with the Celts, but with a clear differentiation of other close Celtic tribes, as the Celtiberians.

By the 1st century BC they were organized into a federation of autonomous mountain-top fortified towns (Civitates) on the mountain ranges of the upper Ebro, protected by stout adobe walls of the "Numantine" type.

They also gained an outlet to the sea by seizing from the Aquitanian-speaking Caristii further east the coastal highland region between the rivers Asón and Neroua (Nervión), in the modern eastern Cantabria, Vizcaya, and Álava Basque provinces.

Thrust back to their lands on the mountain ranges of the upper Ebro north of the Arlanzón valley around the 3rd-2nd Centuries BC, the Autrigones allied themselves with the Berones[8] and evolved into a tribal society similar to the peoples of the north-west.