The
Carpi or
Carpians were a
Dacian tribe that were originally located on the Eastern slopes of the
Carpathian Mountains, in what is now
Bacău County,
Romania.
The name (Carpi) seems to be connected to the place where they lived, meaning "rock" or "mountain" (cf. Albanian karpë='rock', from PIE *ker/sker). The name of the Carpathian mountains is thus probably either derived from their name, or their name is derived from the name of the mountains. Ptolemy first mentions the Carpates (Karpates) mountain range corresponding to the Western Carpathian mountain range.
The Carpians are thought to be Dacians, despite the fact that the ancient sources do not indicate this clearly. Zosimos did use the name καρποδάκαι, "Carpo-Dacians" and some historians interpret this as "Carpians of Dacian origin", but this most likely meant "Carpians of Dacia", having a geographical rather than ethno-linguistical meaning.
However, the archaeological remains of the Carpian settlements show that their culture was derived from the Dacian La Tène, with Roman and Scythian influences.
