Quaquerni

The Quaquerni or Querquerni were an ancient tribe of Gallaecia, living in the Baixa Limia region of southern Galicia, where the Roman fort of Aquis Querquennis has been found.

Historical sources
The Quaquerni are also known by the name Quarquerni, Querquernoi, or Quacernoi. Their ethnonym is registered as Κουακερνοί (Kouakernoí), by Greek geographer Ptolemy in his Geographies. Scholars see a possible connection with Venetic Quarqueni, as registered by Pliny and located somewhere in historical Istria.

Etymology
The name Querquerni is probably related to Latin quercus ("oak"), which stems from Proto-Indo-European root *pérkʷus, meaning "oak". It is probably a Q-Celtic formation meaning "the Oak People / Warriors", related to:


 * Middle Irish ceirt "apple-tree", Middle Welsh perth "bush", from *''kʷerxt-, from an earlier *kʷerkʷt- < *perkʷt-
 * the Continental Celtic toponyms Hercynian forest and the Pannonian tribe Hercuniates, where the early delabialization of kʷ before u prevented p.. kʷ > kʷ .. kʷ: so *perkʷunia > *perkunia > *fercunia; note that there is no u after kʷ in *kʷerkʷern-. They are all related to the Germanic branch maybe borrowed from Pre-Celtic *percunia, that is to say : Gothic fairgunni "mountain (covered with oaks)", Anglo-Saxon firgen- "mountain wood", Old High German Fergunna, Virgundia waldus, etc.
 * French place names derived from the forms Perciacum, Percoialum, Percunia, Percetum, Erciacum, etc.

Location
Ancient sources tell of a place named Aquae Quarquernae. Alternate names are Aquis Querquennis and Aquis Cercennis.

Relations to other tribes
The Quaquerni were a subdivision of the Gallaeci Bracarii.