220 EARLY MAN IN BRITAIN. [CHAP. ix. 



the Celt-Iberi of Spain. An ethnological connection also 

 between Aquitaine and Brittany (Armorica), may be 

 inferred from the remark of Pliny, " Aquitania Armorica 

 ante dicta;" 1 considered an unaccountable blunder by 

 Dr. Latham. The truth of Pliny's statement, however, 

 is confirmed by Dr. Broca's map of the stature and com- 

 plexion of the peoples of France, to be examined pre- 

 sently (Fig. 113). The Celts occupied the region from 

 the Loire to the Seine, ranging as far to the east as 

 Switzerland, and they were masters of the country 

 extending from the frontiers of Aquitaine into the valley 

 of the Rhone, being conterminous with the Celts of 

 Spain. Thus the south-western districts of France and 

 Spain were occupied by an Iberian population, repre- 

 sented now by the small dark Basques, while the 

 Celtic peoples inhabited the region extending from the 

 valley of the Seine, through central France, into the 

 valley of the Rhone, and over the Eastern Pyrenees, 

 into southern Spain. 



The Iberic Race in Retreat. 



This westward retrocession of the frontier of Iberia, 

 from the Rhone to the Pyrenees, is a most important 

 historical fact. It shows that before the days of Strabo 

 the Iberic peoples were retreating under the pressure of 

 invaders from the east. At the dawn of history they 

 held a position in Europe far more important than in 

 later times, but far less important than that which they 

 occupied in the Neolithic age, when they have been 

 proved, by the discoveries in sepulchral caves and tombs, 

 to have lived as far to the north-east as the Rhine. In 



1 iv. 17. 



