the presence, on late romano-aquitanian funerary slabs, of what seem to be the names of deities or people similar to certain names in modern basque have led many philologists and linguists to conclude that aquitanian was closely related to an older form of basque. julius caesar draws a clear line between the aquitani, living in present-day south-western france and speaking aquitanian, and their neighboring celts living to the north. the fact that the region was known as vasconia in the early middle ages, a name that evolved into the better known form of gascony, along with other toponymic evidence, seems to corroborate that assumption.