This older view is represented by mid 20th-century proposals to assume the existence by 250 BC of five general groups to be distinguishable: North Germanic in Southern Scandinavia excluding Jutland; North Sea Germanic along the middle Rhine and Jutland; Rhine-Weser Germanic; Elbe Germanic; and East Germanic.
This older view, which proposed five distinct groups of people by 250 BC, is represented by mid-20th-century proposals. These proposals were based on the idea that these groups existed in different regions of Europe.