Pre-Roman Iron Age

proto-language of the Germanic languages

thumb|Germania in the late 1st century AD; the Cimbri in northern Jutland. The Cimbri (, ; ) were an ancient tribe in Europe. Ancient authors described them variously as a Celtic-Gaulish, Germanic, or even Cimmerian people. Several ancient sources indicate that they lived in Jutland, which in some classical texts was called the Cimbrian peninsula. There is no direct evidence for the language they spoke, though some scholars argue that it was a Germanic language, while others argue that it was Celtic.

thumb|300px|"The Women of the Teutones Defend the Laager|Wagon Fort" (1882) by [[Heinrich Leutemann]]

Iron Age bog body from Denmark that was hanged before death

iron age silver cauldron found in Denmark

Iron Age material culture in what is now north Germany

The Tencteri were a Germanic people during the first centuries BC and AD, who lived east of the Rhine delta. They were first reported by Roman sources during the Gallic Wars of Julius Caesar in 55 BC. He attacked a very large group of Tencteri and Usipetes near the Rhine delta, while they were on the move with women, children and the elderly, having left their homelands east of the delta under pressure from the Suebi. Caesar reported that large numbers were killed, but survivors managed to cross the Rhine and seek refuge with the Sugambri.

thumb|The migrations of the Teutons and the Cimbri. Cimbri, Ambrone and Teuton defeats. Cimbri, Ambrone and Teuton victories. The Ambrones () were an ancient tribe mentioned by Roman authors. They are believed by some to have been a Germanic tribe from Jutland; the Romans were not clear about their exact origin.

stone ship in Ystad, Sweden

thumb|300px|The approximate positions of some Germanic peoples reported by Graeco-Roman authors, Suevian peoples in red, and other Irminones in purple The Irminones, also referred to as Herminones or Hermiones (), were a large group of early Germanic tribes settling in the Elbe watershed and by the first century AD expanding into Bavaria, Swabia, and Bohemia. This included the large sub-group of the Suevi, that itself contained many different tribal groups, but the Irminones also included for example the Chatti.

The Ingaevones () or Ingvaeones () were a Germanic cultural group living in the Northern Germania along the North Sea coast in the areas of Jutland, Holstein, and Lower Saxony in classical antiquity. Tribes in this area included the Angles, Chauci, Saxons, and Jutes.

400 px|thumb|The approximate locations of the Sicambri and Bructeri in about 10 BC The Usipetes or Usipii (in Plutarch's Greek, Ousipai, and possibly the same as the Ouispoi of Ptolemy) were an ancient Germanic people who entered the written record when they encountered Julius Caesar in 56/55 BC when they attempted to find a new settlement west of the Rhine, together with the Tencteri, who were both attempting to move away from the aggressions of the Suevi on the east side of the Rhine. After the Romans slaughtered a great number of both tribes, they resettled on the east bank with the help of

Boiorix or Boeorix was a king of the Cimbri tribe during the Cimbrian War. He is most known for his spectacular victory against the Romans at the Battle of Arausio in 105 BC, seen as the worst Roman military defeat since the Battle of Cannae. He died at the Battle of Vercellae in 101 BC, in a last stand with his noblemen.

large canoe type vessel dated to 350 found in Hjortspring Mose at Als, Denmark

Iron Age bog body from Denmark

thumb|right|300px|A proposed distribution of the primary [[Germanic languages|Germanic dialect groups in Europe in around AD 1. The depiction of Jutland as a West Germanic area is typical within German scientific tradition.

thumb|300px|The supposed migrations of the Teutons and the Cimbri. Cimbri and Teutons defeats. Cimbri and Teutons victories.

Irish bog body from the 4th/5th century

the earliest part of the Iron Age in Scandinavia and the North European Plain (5th/4th–1st centuries BC)

Boduognatus (died 57 BC) was a leader of the Belgic Nervii during the Gallic Wars. He was the overall commander of the Belgic forces at the Battle of Sabis in 57 BC, in which he surprised, and almost defeated, Julius Caesar.

language group

language group

Claodicus was a co-leader of the Cimbri tribe during the Cimbrian War, in which the Cimbri won a spectacular victory against the Romans at the Battle of Arausio in 105 BC. He was captured along with Caesorix at the Battle of Vercellae in 101 BC. The other Cimbrian chiefs Boiorix and Lugius were killed on the field.

Lugius was a co-leader of the Cimbri tribe during the Cimbrian War, in which the Cimbri won a spectacular victory against the Romans at the Battle of Arausio in 105 BC. He was later defeated and slain along with Boiorix at the Battle of Vercellae in 101 BC. The other Cimbrian chiefs Claodicus and Caesorix were captured.

Iron Age bog body from Ireland

Caesorix was a co-leader of the Cimbri tribe during the Cimbrian War, in which the Cimbri won a spectacular victory against the Romans at the Battle of Arausio in 105 BC. He was captured along with Claodicus at the Battle of Vercellae in 101 BC. The other Cimbrian chiefs Boiorix and Lugius were killed on the field.