Editing Iapodes (section)

==Origin and affinity==
[[File:Japodske kape i druga materijalna kultura.jpg|thumb|Iapodian metalwork]]

The exact origin of early Iapodes is uncertain; archaeological documentation suggests mixed affinities to early ''[[Pannonians#Pannonians|Pannonii]]'' and other [[Illyrians]]. The first written mention of an Illyrian tribe is from Greek writers from the 6th century BC. They are provisionally described by [[Strabo]] as a mixed race of [[Celts]] and Illyrians, who used Celtic weapons, [[tattoo]]ed themselves, and lived chiefly on [[spelt]] and [[millet]];{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} however, Strabo's suggestion of a mixed Celtic-Illyrian Iapodes culture is not confirmed by archaeology. Originally, Iapodes existed at least from the 9th century BC, and Celtic influence reached the region in the 4th century BC when Iapodes entered a decline. Archeological evidence of typical Celtic culture is documented only in the marginal contact zone of the Iapodes and the Celtic ''[[Taurisci]]'' along the [[Kupa (river)|Kupa]] river valley (now the [[Slovenia]]n-[[Croatia]]n border). Elsewhere, and especially in the main Iapodian area of the [[Lika]] highlands in [[Croatia]], definite Celtic artifacts are scarce and explicable merely by commercial exchanges.