Editing Dumnonii (section)

==Archaeology==
The Dumnonii are thought to have occupied relatively isolated territory in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and possibly part of [[Dorset]]. Their cultural connections, as expressed in their ceramics, were with the peninsula of [[Armorica]] across the Channel, rather than with the southeast of Britain.<ref name=cunliffe>Cunliffe, Barry (2005) ''Iron Age Communities in Britain: an Account of England, Scotland and Wales from the Seventh Century BC Until the Roman Conquest,'' 4th ed. pp. 201-206.</ref> They do not seem to have been politically centralised: coins are relatively rare, none of them locally minted, and the structure, distribution and construction of Bronze Age and Iron Age hill forts, ''[[Hill forts in Cornwall|Cornish rounds]]'', and defensible farmsteads in the south west point to a number of smaller tribal groups living alongside each other.<ref name=cunliffe/>

Dumnonia is noteworthy for its many settlements that have survived from the [[Romano-British]] period, but also for its lack of a [[Roman villa|villa system]]. Local archaeology has revealed instead the isolated enclosed farmsteads known locally as ''rounds''. These seem to have survived the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] abandonment of Britain, but were subsequently replaced, in the 6th and 7th centuries, by the unenclosed farms taking the [[Brythonic languages|Brythonic]] [[toponym]]ic ''tre-''.<ref>Pearce, Susan M. (1978) The Kingdom of Dumnonia. Padstow: Lodenek Press</ref><ref>Kain, Roger; Ravenhill, William (eds.) (1999) ''Historical Atlas of South-West England''. Exeter / provides detailed information</ref>

As in most other Brythonic areas, [[Iron Age]] [[hillfort|hill forts]], such as [[Hembury|Hembury Castle]], were refortified for the use of chieftains or kings. Other high-status settlements such as [[Tintagel Castle|Tintagel]] seem to have been reconstructed during this period. Post-Roman imported pottery has been excavated from many sites across the region, and the apparent surge in late 5th century [[Mediterranean]] and/or [[Byzantine]] imports is yet to be explained satisfactorily.<ref>Thomas, Charles (1981) reviewing Pearce (1978) in ''Britannia'' 12; p. 417</ref>