Originally posted by PDHOTLEN
"German" was a non-specific Roman reporters' word for all people in the huge NE region outside the Roman Empire, (excluding such provinces as Gaul, Trakia and Dakia, which incidentally spoke Celtic dialects.) The term does not imply DNA identity. Timescale late preRoman.
"Celtic" is a linguistics-history word for the language believed to have been used by the mass of people that filled most of Southern Europe just before the Roman Empire. It does not imply DNA identity. Timescale , late pre-Roman.
"Indoeuropean" is a linguistics-history word for the root language that branched off as Celtic and Germanic. Without evidence of major population replacement, (as shown by Sykes' work,) the Indoeuropean languages, and Neolithic farming, flowed over Europe with only 20% replacement of the Paleolithic DNA identifiers. Timescale ca 10,000 ybp.
"Celtiberian" defeats my search for clear definition. There is some confusion between RomanoGreek reported inmigrations (timescale ca3000ybp), and ancient refugial presence and (DNA-supported) persistence from the LGM (Ca 20,000 ybp). These sturdy Paleolithic survivors may well have acquired Celtic variety IE as it came by, to be later G-R reported as "Celt-Iberians".
IMHO the late preRoman-era Suebii are defined purely by their cultural self-name "the free ones" as given in the RomanoGreek reports. From those reports, their DNA make-up, may well have been federal-tribal, with one or two core-tribal "founder" descriptors.
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