 When one thinks of Spain and Portugal, incredible food, great weather and passionate people are usually the first things that come to mind. The Celtic history of these places does not usually enter the picture. In a previous video, I focused on the Celtic origins of the region of Galicia in Spain, which has the most famous Celtic connection to Spain. However, the influence of Celtic civilisation extends far beyond Galicia, with the lost part of the Iberian Peninsula having Celtic roots. Thousands of years ago, vast swaths of land we know as Spain and Portugal today were home to Celtic tribes. One of the most notable Celtic groups were the Celtiberians, who occupied the central eastern region of what we call Spain today. Various Celtic tribes made up the Celtiberians, including the Araveche, the Pelendones and the Titi. These people spoke the Celtiberian language, a now distinct Indo-European Celtic language, which was related to the Galician language spoken in the northwest corner of the Iberian Peninsula. Interestingly, there are over 200 inscriptions that have been found that contain the Celtiberian script, usually dating from the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. The Celtiberian script was an adaptation of the northeastern Iberian script and was used for writing. The Boterita bronze plaques contain the Celtiberian script, which were found near the city of Zaragotha in Spain and are dated to the 2nd century BC. Before we continue, please remember to subscribe and that you can support this work through buymeacoffee.com and Patreon. All the links are in the description below. Thank you, now back to the video. The Celtiberians also invented a type of sword that the Romans then adopted after conquering them. Prior to the switch, the Romans tended to use a sword that was mainly used for thrusting and was probably based on a Greek design. After the Romans witnessed, have effect of the Celtiberian sword where it slashing in addition to thrusting. The Romans decided to adopt a similarly designed Gladius, with Gladius being the Latin word for sword. Other ancient Celtic groups in the Iberian peninsula included the Visey, the Carpatani and the Celtice. With the Celtice occupying various regions of modern-day Portugal, including the Algarve region. The Celtice are thought to have strong links with the Galicians, with many Celtice migrating north into Galicia thousands of years ago. There were also many pre-Celtic and mixed Celtic groups, including the Lysitanians, who probably deserve a video of their own at some point in the future. The word Portugal itself may also be half Celtic. Portugal derives its name from an ancient Celtic town that the Romans called Portus Cal. Portus was the Roman word for port, but Cal is thought to be either Celtic or Greek in the Celtic version of the word. Cal could be derived from the Celtic Calaceae of ancient Galicia, or perhaps from the Celtic deity of the weather, known as the Caya or Cala. It is thought that these Celtic words meant port or harbour, with similar words used in Irish and Scottish Gaelic for port or harbour today. Therefore, strangely enough, Portus Cal could have literally meant port, port, over time. Portus Cal became Portus Cal, and eventually Portugal. As we have seen, the history of both Spain and Portugal have strong Celtic influences. Please let me know in the comments below of any other Iberian Celtic connections you know about.