The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word IBERIAN
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
I
B
E
R
I
A
N
More clues leading to the result IBERIAN
- West African left out Spaniard?
- European heading off W African or Russian, perhaps
- Single man welcoming European, one from Spain, perhaps
- One manembracing East European
- Cold, topless, in Spain and Portugal
- Georgian once favoured, seen round former Russian strong man
- West African’s first to be deposed by a Portuguese?
- European in the same place with monarch and Scot
- An ancient European, I live right next door to Scotsman
- Former Caucasian secret policeman held in Indiana
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "An ancient European" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case an ancient european = iberian.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.