Who are the Basque people?

What are the origins of the Basque People? Aren't they Indo-Europeans?

• I have read that the Basques are not Indo-Europeans. They are simply Europeans. How come they are not Indo-Europeans, like the rest of the Europeans? I would like to understand how they are Europeans and yet they do not come from the Caucasus Mountains. Where do they come from then? Are they related to the Guanches of the Canary Islands?

• Answer:

  You are mixing up people groups with language groups. The Basque region acted as a human refuge - arguably the most important for Western Europe, during the last Ice Age. Most West Europeans have genes that flowed through that region previous to 12,000 years ago. You can imagine that the people who still live there can claim to be a very old people. The Basque language also has very old roots in Europe. It appears to pre-date Indo-European languages that arrived and otherwise replaced most earlier European languages around 1,500 to 3,000 BC. The Basque language is a survivor from before the arrival of Indo European languages that include Celtic, Germanic, Romance, Iranian, Slavic, and Baltic sub groups.