... these peoples since around 6,000 B.C. Basque was spoken in the whole of South Aquitaine and eastwards, to inside Catalonia (proved by inscriptions and place names). From the sixth century B.C. Indo-European culture wiped out all the pre-Indo-European languages spoken in Europe up to that time, with the exception of the Basque language. Serious cultural and political problems arose from the above circumstances. Thee first news of the Basque people comes to us through the ancient geographers, in particular Pliny and Ptolemy. The "Journey of Antoninus" mentions names that indicate that the land of the Basques extended, not only to Aquitaine in the north but also far down the River Ebro to the south. P. Villasante says that the Basques, in calling themselves "Euskaldunak" (those who speak Basque [Euskera]) and the country "Euskalerria", i.e. Basque speaking country, are making cultural history in that it is the language that has moulded ...

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