Editing Dumnonii

{{short description|Celtic tribe in southwestern Britain during the Iron Age}}
{{distinguish|Damnonii}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox Celts of England
|Name         = Dumnonii
|fullname          = Dumnonii
|map               = [[Image:Britain.south.peoples.Ptolemy.jpg|220px|Celtic tribes of South England]]
|name          = Dumnonii
|capital           = ''[[Isca Dumnoniorum]]'' <small>([[Exeter]])</small>
|location      = [[Cornwall]]<br />[[Devon]]<br />[[West Somerset]] 
|rulers             = [[Kings of Dumnonia]]
}}
The '''Dumnonii''' or '''Dumnones''' were a [[Britons (historical)|British]] [[List of ancient Celtic peoples and tribes|tribe]] who inhabited [[Dumnonia]], the area now known as [[Cornwall]] and [[Devon]] (and some areas of present-day [[Dorset]] and [[Somerset]]) in the further parts of the [[West Country|South West]] peninsula of Britain, from at least the [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]] up to the early [[Saxons|Saxon]] period. They were bordered to the east by the [[Durotriges]] tribe.

==Etymology==
{{History of Cornwall}}[[William Camden]], in his 1607 edition of ''Britannia'', describes [[Cornwall]] and [[Devon]] as being two parts of the same 'country' which:{{Blockquote|was in ancient time inhabited by those Britains whom [[Gaius Julius Solinus|Solinus]] called Dunmonii, [[Ptolemy|Ptolomee]] Damnonii, or (as we find in some other copies) more truly Danmonii. ... . But... the Country of this nation is at this day divided into two parts, known by later names of Cornwall and Denshire [Devonshire] ... The near or hithermore region of the Danmonians that I spake of is now commonly called Denshire, [or] by the Cornish-Britains 'Dewnan', and by the Welsh Britains 'Duffneint' [sic], that is, 'low valleys', for that the people dwell for the most part beneath in Vales; by the English Saxons [it is known as] 'Deven-schire', whereof grew the Latin name 'Devonia', and by that contraction which the vulgar people useth, 'Denshire'.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Southhall |first1=Humphrey |last2=Camden |first2=William |title=Home/Travel Writing/William Camden/Selection 8 |url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/text/chap_page.jsp?t_id=Camden&c_id=8&cpub_id=0 |website=A vision of Britain through time |access-date=1 June 2024}}</ref>}}

Camden had learnt some [[Welsh language|Welsh]] during the course of his studies and it would appear that he is the origin of the interpretation of Dumnonii as "deep valley dwellers" from his understanding of the Welsh of his time. The modern Welsh term is ''Dyfnaint''. [[John Rhŷs]] later theorized that the tribal name was derived from the name of a goddess, ''Domnu'', probably meaning "the goddess of the deep".<ref>Rhys, John (1892) ''Lectures on the origin and growth of religion as illustrated by Celtic heathendom''. London: Williams and Norgate; p. 597</ref> The [[Proto-Celtic language|proto-Celtic]] root *dubno- or *dumno- meaning "the deep" or "the earth" (or alternatively meaning "dark" or "gloomy"<ref>Xavier Delamarre, ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise'', Errance, Paris, 2003</ref>) appears in personal names such as [[Dumnorix]] and [[Dubnovellaunus]]. Another group with a similar name but with no known links were the [[Fir Domnann]] of [[Connacht]].

The Roman name of the town of [[Exeter]], ''[[Isca Dumnoniorum]]'' ("Isca of the Dumnonii"), contains the root ''*iska-'' "water" for "Water of the Dumnonii". The Latin name suggests that the city was already an ''[[oppidum]]'', or walled town, on the banks on the [[River Exe]] before the foundation of the Roman city, in about AD 50. The Dumnonii gave their name to the English county of [[Devon]], and their name is represented in Britain's two extant [[Brythonic languages]] as ''Dewnens'' in [[Cornish language|Cornish]] and ''Dyfnaint'' in [[Welsh language|Welsh]]. [[Amedée Simon Dominique Thierry|Amédée Thierry]] (''Histoire des Gaulois'', 1828), one of the inventors of the historic race of Gauls, could confidently equate them with the [[Cornish people|Cornish]] ("les Cornouailles").

Victorian historians often referred to the tribe as the [[Damnonii]], which is also the name of another people from lowland Scotland, although there are no known links between the two populations.

==Language==
The people of Dumnonia spoke a [[Southwestern Brythonic]] dialect of [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] similar to the forerunner of more recent [[Cornish language|Cornish]] and [[Breton language|Breton]]. [[Irish people|Irish]] immigrants, the [[Déisi]],<ref name="Thomas 1994">[[Charles Thomas (archaeologist)|Thomas, Charles]] (1994) ''"And Shall These Mute Stones Speak?": post-Roman inscriptions in western Britain''. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.</ref> are evidenced by the [[Ogham]]-inscribed stones they have left behind, confirmed and supplemented by toponymical studies.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/cisp/database/| title = Celtic Inscribed Stones Project (CISP) on-line database}}</ref> The stones are sometimes inscribed in [[Latin]], sometimes in both scripts.<ref name="Thomas 1994" /> [[Tristram Risdon]] suggested the continuance of a Brythonic dialect in the [[South Hams]], Devon, as late as the 14th century, in addition to its use in Cornwall.

==Territory==
{{see also|Cornovii (Cornwall)}}
[[File:Map of the Territory of the Dumnonii.svg|thumb|200px|The location of the Dumnonii in what is now [[Cornwall]] and [[Devon]].]]
[[Ptolemy]]'s 2nd century ''Geography'' places the Dumnonii to the west of the [[Durotriges]]. The name ''purocoronavium'' that appears in the [[Ravenna Cosmography]] implies the existence of a sub-tribe called the Cornavii or Cornovii, perhaps the ancestors of the [[Cornish people]].

[[Gaius Iulius Solinus]], probably in the 3rd century, remarks: "This turbid strait also divides the [[Isles of Scilly|island Silura]] from the shore which is held by the Dumnonii, a British tribe. The men of this island even now preserve an old custom: they do not use coins. They give and accept, obtaining the necessities of life by exchange rather than by money. They reverence gods, and the men and women equally declare knowledge of the future."<ref>[[Gaius Julius Solinus]] Polyhistor  § 22.7  {9}. trans. Arwen Elizabeth Apps, Gaius Iulius Solinus and His Polyhistor, Macquarie University, 2011 (PhD Dissertation) https://topostext.org/work/747</ref>

In the [[Sub-Roman Britain|sub-Roman]] period a Brythonic kingdom called [[Dumnonia]] emerged, covering the entire peninsula, although it is believed by some to have effectively been a collection of sub-kingdoms.

A kingdom of [[Domnonée]] (and of [[Cornouaille]] alongside) was established in the province of [[Armorica]] directly across the [[English Channel]], and has apparent links with the British population, suggesting an ancient connection of peoples along the western Atlantic seaboard which is also borne out by the modern genetics of Devonian and Cornish populations.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://peopleofthebritishisles.web.ox.ac.uk/population-genetics | title=Population genetics }}</ref>

==Settlements==

===Isca Dumnoniorum===
{{Main|Isca Dumnoniorum}}
The [[Latin]] name for Exeter is Isca Dumnoniorum ("Water of the Dumnonii"). This [[oppidum]] (a [[Latin]] term meaning an important town) on the banks of [[River Exe]] certainly existed prior to the foundation of the [[Roman Britain|Roman city]] in about AD 50. ''Isca'' is derived from the [[Brittonic languages|Brythonic]] word for flowing water, which was given to the River Exe. The Gaelic term for water is ''uisce/uisge''. This is reflected in the Welsh name for Exeter: ''Caerwysg'' meaning "fortified settlement on the river Uisc".

Isca Dumnoniorum originated with a settlement that developed around the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] fortress of the [[Legio II Augusta]] and is one of the four ''[[poleis]]'' (cities) attributed to the tribe by [[Ptolemy]].<ref name=RBOD>{{cite web
|url=http://www.roman-britain.org/tribes/dumnonii.htm
|title=The Celtic Tribes of Britain: The Dumnonii
|publisher=Roman Britain Organisation
|access-date=2012-07-05
}}</ref> It is also listed in two routes of the late 2nd century [[Antonine Itinerary]].

A legionary bath-house was built inside the fortress sometime between 55 and 60 and underwent renovation shortly afterwards (c. 60-65) but by c. 68 (perhaps even 66) the legion had transferred to a newer fortress at [[Gloucester]]. This saw the dismantling of the Isca fortress, and the site was then abandoned. Around AD 75, work on the ''civitas forum'' and ''basilica'' had commenced on the site of the former ''principia'' and by the late 2nd century the ''civitas'' walls had been completed. They were 3 metres thick and 6 metres high and enclosed exactly the same area as the earlier fortress. However, by the late 4th century the ''civitas'' was in decline.<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = https://www.roman-britain.co.uk/places/isca_dumnoniorum/
 |title       = ISCA DVMNONIORVM
 |publisher   = Roman Britain
}}</ref>

{{Quote box
 | quote = Next to these [the [[Durotriges]]], but more to the west, are the Dumnoni, whose towns are:<br />Voliba 14°45&nbsp;52°00<br />Uxella 15°00&nbsp;52°45<br />Tamara 15°00&nbsp;52°15<br />Isca, where is located Legio II Augusta 17°30&nbsp;52°45.
 | source = —Ptolemy, ''Geography'' II.ii.<ref name=RBOD />
 | width = 25%
 | qalign = left
 | align = right
}}

===Other settlements===
As well as Isca Dumnoniorum, [[Ptolemy]]'s 2nd century ''Geography'' names three other towns:<ref name=RBOD />
*Voliba, which remains unidentified,
*Uxella, possibly on the [[River Axe (Bristol Channel)|River Axe]], or at [[Launceston, Cornwall|Launceston]], and
*Tamara, generally considered to be somewhere on the [[River Tamar]].

The [[Ravenna Cosmography]] includes the last two names (in slightly different forms, as "Tamaris" and "Uxelis"), and adds several more names which may be settlements in the territory. These include:
*Nemetostatio, a name relating to ''[[nemeton]]'', signifying "sanctuary' or "[[sacred grove]]". Probably to be identified with [[North Tawton]] in Devon where there is a Roman earthwork that may be military, or possibly a tax collection station.<ref name=RBOD />
*Purocoronavis, which may refer to an important native hill fort, such as [[Carn Brea, Redruth|Carn Brea]] or [[Tintagel]].<ref name=RBOD /> The name has led to speculation about the Cornish [[Cornovii (Cornwall)|Cornovii]].

Other [[Romano-British]] sites in Dumnonia include:
*[[Topsham, Devon]] - a settlement and harbour that served Isca Dumnoniorum to which it was connected by road and river.<ref name=RBOD />
*[[Nanstallon]] (Cornwall) - a square military enclosure, seemingly associated with [[tin]] workings at nearby [[Boscarne]].<ref name=RBOD />
*[[Mount Batten]] (Devon) - an [[Iron Age]] tin port that continued into Roman times.<ref name=RBOD />
*[[Plymouth]] (Devon) - evidence of a Roman settlement has been found on the north side of the harbour.<ref name=RBOD />
*[[Ictis]] - an ancient port trading in tin.<ref name=RBOD />

New settlements continued to be built throughout the Roman period, including sites at [[Chysauster]] and [[Trevelgue Head]]. The style is native in form with no Romanised features. Near [[Padstow]], a site of some importance that was inhabited from the late Bronze/early Iron Age to the mid 6th century now lies buried under the sands on the opposite side of the Camel estuary near St. Enodoc's Church, and may have been a western coastal equivalent of a [[Saxon Shore Fort]]. Byzantine and African pottery has been discovered at the site.<ref name=RBOD /> At Magor Farm in [[Illogan]], near [[Camborne]], an archaeological site has been identified as being a [[villa]].<ref name=RBOD />

==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>

==Industries==
Apart from fishing and agriculture, the main economic resource of the Dumnonii was [[tin mining]]. The area of Dumnonia had been mined since ancient times, and the tin was exported from the ancient trading port of [[Ictis]] ([[St Michael's Mount]]).<ref name=RBOD /> Tin extraction (mainly by streaming) had existed here from the early [[Bronze Age]] around the 22nd century BC. West Cornwall, around [[Mount's Bay]], was traditionally thought to have been visited by metal traders from the eastern [[Mediterranean]]<ref>Hawkins, Christopher (1811) ''Observations on the Tin Trade of the Ancients in Cornwall''. London: J. J. Stockdale</ref>

During the first millennium BC trade became more organised, first with the [[Phoenicians]], who settled Gades ([[Cadiz]]) around 1100 BC, and later with the [[Greeks]], who had settled Massilia ([[Marseille]]) and Narbo ([[Narbonne]]) around 600 BC. Smelted Cornish tin was collected at [[Ictis]] whence it was conveyed across the Bay of Biscay to the mouth of the [[Loire]] and then to Gades via the [[Loire]] and [[Rhone]] valleys. It went then through the Mediterranean Sea in ships to Gades.

During the period c. 500-450 BC, the tin deposits seem to have become more important, and fortified settlements appear such as at [[Chun Castle]] and [[Kenidjack Castle]], to protect both the tin smelters and mines.<ref name="trevithick-society.org.uk">[http://www.trevithick-society.org.uk/industry/cornish_history.htm Cornish History.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090812235920/http://www.trevithick-society.org.uk/industry/cornish_history.htm |date=2009-08-12 }} [[Trevithick Society]].</ref>

The earliest account of Cornish [[tin mining]] was written by [[Pytheas]] of Massilia late in the 4th century BC after his circumnavigation of the British Isles. Underground mining was described in this account, although it cannot be determined when it had started. [[Pytheas]]'s account was noted later by other writers including [[Pliny the Elder]] and [[Diodorus Siculus]].<ref name="trevithick-society.org.uk"/>

It is likely that tin trade with the [[Mediterranean]] was later on under the control of the [[Veneti (Gaul)|Veneti]].<ref>Champion, Timothy "The Appropriation of the Phoenicians in British Imperial Ideology" in: ''Nations and Nationalism'', Volume 7, Issue 4, pp. 451-65, October 2001</ref> [[Prehistoric Britain|Britain]] was one of the places proposed for the ''[[Cassiterides]]'', that is Tin Islands. Tin working continued throughout [[Roman Empire|Roman]] occupation although it appears that output declined because of new supplies brought in from the deposits discovered in [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberia]] (Spain and Portugal). However, when these supplies diminished, production in [[Dumnonia]] increased and appears to have reached a peak during the 3rd century AD.<ref name="trevithick-society.org.uk"/>

==Sub-Roman and post-Roman Dumnonia==
{{Main|Dumnonia}}
The [[Sub-Roman Britain|Sub-Roman or Post-Roman]] history of Dumnonia comes from a variety of sources and is considered exceedingly difficult to interpret<ref>Webster, Graham (1991) ''The Cornovii'' (Peoples of Roman Britain series). London: Duckworth</ref> given that historical fact, legend and confused pseudo-history are compounded by a variety of sources in [[Middle Welsh]] and [[Latin]]. The main sources available for discussion of this period include [[Gildas]]'s ''[[De Excidio Britanniae]]'' and [[Nennius]]'s ''[[Historia Brittonum]]'', the ''[[Annales Cambriae]]'', ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'', [[William of Malmesbury]]'s ''[[Gesta Regum Anglorum]]'' and ''De Antiquitate [[Glastonbury Abbey|Glastoniensis]] Ecclesiae'', along with texts from the ''[[Black Book of Carmarthen]]'' and the ''[[Red Book of Hergest]]'', and [[Bede]]'s ''[[Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum]]'' as well as "The Descent of the Men of the North" (''[[Bonedd Gwŷr y Gogledd]]'', in [[Peniarth|Peniarth MS 45]] and elsewhere) and the ''[[Book of Baglan]]''.

==See also==
*[[Cornovii]] (details of the three tribes bearing the name)
*[[Damnonii]] (tribe in central Scotland)
*[[Dark Ages (historiography)]]

==References==
{{reflist|40em}}

==Further reading==
*[[Ptolemy]]. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Periods/Roman/_Texts/Ptolemy/2/2*.html ''Geography'']
*Piguet, Marie-France. [https://web.archive.org/web/20041104211523/http://lhomme.revues.org/document.html?id=6 "Observation et histoire: Race chez Amédée Thierry et William F. Edwards"] in ''L'Homme'' 153 (in French)
*Thierry, Amédée. [http://perso.wanadoo.fr/fdomi.fournier/H%20antique/Gaule/H_Gaulois/HG_302.htm ''L'Histoire des Gaulois'' pt iii, chapter II] (in French)
*Wacher, John. ''The Towns of Roman Britain'', II ed. BCA, London, 1995, p.&nbsp;335-343; fig. 151
*Webster, Graham. ''The Roman Invasion of Britain''. London, 1993, p.&nbsp;159.
*[http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/cisp/database/stone/biscv_1.html Celtic Inscribed Stones Project (CISP) online database]
*[[Bede]]. ''Ecclesiastical History of England'': [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/bede-book1.html Book I], [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/bede-book2.html Book II], [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/bede-book3.html Book III], [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/bede-book4.html Book IV], [https://web.archive.org/web/20140814160844/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/bede-book5.html Book V]

===Annales Cambriae===
*Phillimore, Egerton, ed., "The Annales Cambriae and Old Welsh Genealogies from Harleian MS. 3859", ''Y Cymmrodor''; 9 (1888) pp.&nbsp;141–183.
*Remfry, P. M., ''Annales Cambriae: a Translation of Harleian 3859; PRO E.164/1; Cottonian Domitian, A 1; Exeter Cathedral Library MS. 3514 and MS Exchequer DB Neath, PRO E'' ({{ISBN|1-899376-81-X}})
*Williams (ab Ithel), John, ed. (1860), ''Annales Cambriae (4441288)'', London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts.

==External links==
*http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100002/index.html
*Biographies of monarchs & other royalty from those little known kingdoms that existed in Britain during the Age of King Arthur at-
*https://web.archive.org/web/20090812235920/http://www.trevithick-society.org.uk/industry/cornish_history.htm
*[http://www.roman-britain.co.uk/tribes/dumnonii/ Dumnonii] at [http://www.roman-britain.co.uk/ Roman-Britain.co.uk]

{{Celtic tribes of England}}

[[Category:Celtic Britons]]
[[Category:West Country]]
[[Category:Dumnonia]]
[[Category:Historical Celtic peoples]]

[[de:Dumnonia]]
[[ru:Думнония]]