The Parisi were a British Celtic tribe located somewhere within the present-day

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

, in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, known from a single brief reference by

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

in his ''

Geographica The ''Geographica'' (, ''Geōgraphiká''; or , "Strabo's 17 Books on Geographical Topics") or ''Geography'', is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 'books', written in Greek in the late 1st century BC, or early 1st cen ...

'' of about AD 150. Many writers have connected them with the archaeological Arras culture and some with the more widely known Parisii of Gaul.

Historical sources and archaeology

The Parisi are known from a description in

's ''

'' (''Geographica'' II, 3, 10) which locates them to near ''Opportunum Sinus'' ("Good harbour"). Ptolemy is presumed never to have visited

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of ''Britannia'' after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. Julius Caes ...

, compiling his work from existing sources, probably in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

. The tribe is inferred to have been surrounded by the

Brigantes The Brigantes were Ancient Britons who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of what would become Northern England. Their territory, often referred to as Brigantia, was centred in what was later known as Yorkshire. The Greek geog ...

, and with the Coritani south of them across the

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Trent, Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms ...

. Ptolemy mentions the Parisi in association with '' Petvaria'', a town thought to be located close to Brough, East Riding of Yorkshire. Ptolemy also mentions a promontory ''Promontarium Ocellum'', which may be either

Spurn Head Spurn is a narrow sand tidal island located off the tip of the coast of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England that reaches into the North Sea and forms the north bank of the mouth of the Humber Estuary. It was a spit (landform), spit with a s ...

Flamborough Head Flamborough Head () is a promontory, long on the Yorkshire coast of England, between the Filey and Bridlington bays of the North Sea. It is a chalk headland, with sheer white cliffs. The cliff top has two standing lighthouse towers, the olde ...

. The translation and interpretation of Ptolemy's work has not been consistent over time, with differing interpretations creating potential contradictions in the spatial relationship between ''Opportunum Sinus'' and ''Petuaria''. A more recent interpretation (2005) places both the ''Parisi'' and ''Petuaria'' on the ''Opportunum Sinus'' which leads to the common interpretation of ''Opportunum Sinus'' to be impossible geographically – an alternative feature – the inlet near Brough to Walling Fen has been suggested. Brough/Petuaria also had a harbour in Roman times (further inland than the current Brough Haven) which has long since silted up, further supporting this interpretation. The Parisi are also mentioned in the forgery '' De Situ Britanniae'' originally credited to Richard of Cirencester (14th century AD): the Parisi's towns supposedly included ''Petuaria'' and a place '' Portus Felix'', the locations of which were uncertain, and subject to speculation in the 19th century.

Evidence for link with continental tribes

Burials in East Yorkshire dating from the pre-Roman Iron Age are distinguished as those of the Arras Culture, and show differences from surrounding areas, generally lacking

grave good Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are items buried along with a corpse, body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into an afterlife, or offerings to gods. Grave goods may be classed by re ...

s, but

chariot burial Chariot burials are tombs in which the deceased was buried together with their chariot, usually including their horses and other possessions. An instance of a person being buried with their horse (without the chariot) is called horse burial. Fi ...

s and burials with swords are known, but are similar (chariot burials) to those ascribed to the

La Tène culture The La Tène culture (; ) was a Iron Age Europe, European Iron Age culture. It developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from about 450 BC to the Roman Republic, Roman conquest in the 1st century BC), succeeding the early Iron Age ...

of areas of western and central Europe, giving a potential link to the similarly named Parisii of Gaul.

Etymology

The origin of the name is uncertain; Celticists John T. Koch and Raimund Karl propose a Celtic linguistic origin, meaning "the commanders", similar to the Welsh verb ''peri'' (to cause, command or have done, from Proto-Celtic ''*k^wer-''). Linguist

Eric Hamp Eric Pratt Hamp (November 16, 1920 – February 17, 2019) was an American linguist widely respected as a leading authority on Indo-European linguistics, with particular interests in Celtic languages and Albanian. Unlike many Indo-Europeanists, ...

also links the name to this verb and suggests a meaning of "fighters". Xavier Delamarre prefers to link the ethnic name to the P-Celtic root ''*pario-'' "cauldron" and translates ''Parisi'' as "they of the cauldrons" (taking their name after a distinctive type of vessel used by the Iron Age Celts).Delamarre, Xavier, ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise'', 2nd ed., Editions Errance, Paris, 2003, p. 247.

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

{{Yorkshire Ancient peoples Celtic Britons History of the East Riding of Yorkshire Archaeology of the East Riding of Yorkshire Historical Celtic peoples