Namnetes

The Namnetes were a Gallic tribe dwelling near the modern city of Nantes during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

Xavier Delamarre has tentatively proposed to interpret the name as 'those of the river', by deriving it from the Proto-Indo-European root *nem- ('curved, bend'), which also gave the Gaulish stem nantu- ('valley, stream').

[7] In the spring 56 BC, during the Gallic wars, the Namnetes allied to the Veneti to fight against the fleet made by Caesar.

[9] According to Strabo, quoting Poseidonios, there is an island in the Ocean near the outlet of the Loire river which was inhabited by the "women of the Samnitae," which is generally taken to be a mistake and actually refers to the "Namnitae" or Namnetes.

First, the wet and windy climate of Western Gaul suggest that the Gallic dwellings (made of branches or reed) were re-roofed every year.