Baeturia, Spain

Baeturia, Beturia, or Turdetania was an extensive ancient territory in the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula (in modern Spain) situated between the middle and lower courses of the Guadiana and the Guadalquivir rivers.

From the Second Iron Age, it was inhabited by two distinct ethnic groups: the Celtici, who were Celtic Indo-Europeans in the west, and the Turduli, related to the Turdetans, in the east.

According to research by Alicia M. Canto, initially proposed in 1991 and further detailed in 1995 and 1997, the division of the territory of Beturia between the Celtici and the Turduli was influenced by their respective mining expertise.

In Arab times both territories continued to exist in a distinctive form, the Celts survived in the kûra of Firrís, and the Turduli in that of Fahs al-Ballut (Canto, ERBC 1997, p.

[1] In the present day, Celtic Beturia is primarily located in the southwest of the province of Badajoz and extends into Portugal as far as Serpa and the Guadiana River, which marked its ancient western boundary.