328 EARLY MAN IN BRITAIN. [CHAP. ix. 



made themselves conspicuous above the rest of the pro- 

 vincials of Celtic Gaul by their coherence, and their 

 obstinacy in confronting the Teutonic invaders. In the 

 midst of the confusion which followed the downfall of 

 the Eoman empire they preserved their freedom, arid 

 even asserted the dignity of the Koman name, and 

 resisted the attacks of Clovis with such success as ulti- 

 mately to be admitted to an honourable and equal union. 1 

 We might, therefore, expect that the ancient population 

 would be represented in greater purity in Brittany than 

 in those districts which were repeatedly harassed by 

 Frank, Goth, or Burgundian. The present dark Bretons 

 are conterminous with the dark inhabitants of Aquitaine, 

 consequently I should feel inclined to hold that the 

 northern frontier of Iberia extended in ancient times 

 so as to embrace that province. It must, however, be 

 remarked that during the "conquest of Britain by the 

 English the defeated Britons emigrated in considerable 

 numbers to Brittany, and were themselves, to some 

 extent, of Iberian derivation. 



The broadness of skull which predominates in the 

 inhabitants of the " departements noirs et gris " is con- 

 sidered by Dr. Broca to be a character derived from the 

 Celts, along with others not found in the small, dark, 

 typical Spanish Basques. 



The ancient Ligurians are represented by the dark 

 small inhabitants of the Hautes and Basses Alps, who 

 are not distinguishable from the rest of the small dark 

 French peoples. A suggestion, therefore, which we have 

 thrown out in the preceding pages, that they may belong 

 to the same stock as the Iberians, founded mainly on 



1 Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, iv. 440. 





