The 5 greatest tribal agrupations in Hispania
1.- The "Pirenaics"
Basques
"We need to make clear that the pirenaic tribes, who stretched from Cantabria to the Western Catalan Pyrinees, are the descendants ... of the ancient franco-cantabric tribes that can be traced back to the Paleolitic. Their character is formed around and because of the territory they inhabited, the Pyrinees...Their Eastern tribes (Aragon Pyrinees and Catalan Pyrinees as well as their Cantabric counterparts loose their roots in the following periods, but they're in fact very similar in their origins to the basque country tribes. However, there's some tribes amongst those de-naturalised zones that keep most, if not all, their pirenaic traits: The Andosins (Andorra) and the Arenosis (Aranese Valley)" (page 82)
[It must be stablished that] "The actual inhabitants of the Basque country aren't in any way the descendants from the Iberic tribes, as Humboldt's classic theory states and somebody echoes. It is from the tribes originated in Almería that we must search the roots of the Iberic tribes." (Page 83).
The Ceretan tribe (Spanish and French Cerdanya) was basically a Pirenaic tribe, though heavily influenced by the Capsian tribes.
2.- The Celts
Castellano-Leoneses
The Celt invasion waves:
The First Wave: (rejected by the Iberic tribes)
[They start their invasion] "Through the mediterranean coast (Tarragona and Salou) and make their way through the Iberic settlements in the Urgell Valley ... Until they reach the Ebro (El Molar), stablishing in all this area."
"Their arrival in those areas can be traced to 900 B.C. approximately and they stay in those areas until the Southern Iberic Tribes (Valencia, Almeria, Murcia) exterminate the Celts from their 'National Territory' in 650 B.C."
The Second Wave: Gets into Hispania through Navarra and stablishes in Castilla-León.
"The period of maximal influence of the Celt tribes in Hispania stretches from VIth C B.C. until IInd C B.C. They manage to subdue the Galassos (Galicia), Lusitanos (Portuguese) and the Pirenaic (Basque-Navarre), though they fail in their attempt to completely dominate the 'peninsula', as the Tartessos in the South and the Ibers in the Eastern Mediterranean Zones reject them. About the indigenous tribes that settled the Castilla-León zone little is known as they were completely exterminated by the Celts."
"The Lussitan tribes, although being heavily influenced by the Celt tribes, finally manage to break their dominance in IInd C B.C. and stablish their control in the Portugal and Extremadura zone."
"Although dominated as well by the Celts, the Pirenaic tribes didn't subdue to them and their culture and traits didn't suffer much from this period of dominance." (Page 135)
"It is believed, that although under heavy influence by the Celts and having their culture heavily 'Celticised' by this period of dominance, the Lussitanos and the Galassos didn't mix up with the dominant classes, mantaining the 'tribal' traits unchanged, even if they didnt manage to keep their original cultural traits". (Page 136)
3.- The Tartessos
Andalucia
"The Tartessian tribes managed to create a big confederation during the VIth C B.C in which they formed an alliance with some Southern Iberic tribes: The Bastetans, Deiatans and Mastiens. This later tribe was the dominant one amongst those Iberic Tribes.". (Page 148)
Mastiens, Bastetans and Deitans were the Iberic tribes that inhabited Almeria and Murcia. Although Iberic in their origins, those tribes were so heavily influenced by the Tartessians to make the first Greek scouts label them as Tartessian Tribes.
"This group of tribes in the Tartessian Confederation (Mastiens, Bastetans and Deitans) are Iberic Tribes in the sense that they are descendants from the ancient 'Almerian Tribe' [1st vestige of what today is called Iberic Culture]. Iberic Tribes in their strictest sense (Gimnetes-Contestans, Edetans and Ilergetes-Ilercavons with several other groups towards Nort-East Catalonia, stretching as far as the Roussillon and Montpelier) are the secondary expansion of this originary 'Almerian Tribe' towards the North.
The originary 'Almerian tribe' Group had strong commercial ties with the Tartessos. Those ties were strengthened during the Tartessos flourishment and thus the unification of those three Iberic Tribes under the Tartessian Confederation.
"The most ancient records (the Greek 'Periplo', Hecateu, VIth C BC) distinguish between Tartessos and Iberic Tribes, mentioning that some of those Iberic Tribes are under the Tartessos Confederation and others aren't."
"It is not until Herodor, 430 BC, that Tartessos are comonly labelled as 'Iberic Tribes'."
4.- The Iberic Tribes
The Catalan Speaking Zones in nowadays Spain and Southern France
The great cultural focus of those tribes and the place where they originated is in Alicante-Almeria.
Differences Between Iberic Tribes and Tartessos
Politic and Social: "Tartessia had a quite more advanced culture and refination than the Iberic Tribes. The later remained in a state that we could compare to that of the Bereber tribes: little agrupations around a village or a city, practically independant amongst them, that were only intertwinned with other [Iberic] tribes by Militar alliances when they felt threatened by others.
Their basis was quite democratic and equalitary, having a council formed by the 'Eldest' amongst each tribe (very much like the Bereber 'djemaa'. It is only under great threat that higher organization appears and kings and under-kings come to exist and reach hereditary rule (During the Roman conquest: Edetans (Edecó
and Ilergetes (Indibil and Mandoni)". (Page 160).
Tartessos, in contrast to that organization, had a very marked social class: Aristocratic landlords, Aristocratic merchants, peasants, sailors, slaves); creating Monarchies formed by several cities. Those cities were under the rule of families of Princes. It was from the Confederation of those Monarchies that the Tartessian Confederation was born.
5.- Lusitans and Galessis
Portugal and Galicia
[Bosch-Gimpera thought previously to this book that the Lusitan tribes where indeed Iberic Tribes, though he rectifies this in this work] (page 164) There is really no suggestion in my investigation that supports this claim [them being Iberic Tribes]. Everything suggests that Lusitans would rather be an indigenous tribe that can be traced back to the Paleolitic whose culture was heavily influenced by the second Celtic wave. Their area of dominance would comprehend nowadays Portugal (except the northern provinces) and Extremadura.
Galessis: Northern Portugal and Galicia. Ethnically very simmilar to Lusitans and also heavily influenced in their culture by the second Celt Wave.