DUMNONII

The Dumnonii

Tribe: Dumnonii
Capital: ISCA DVMNONIORVM
Location: Exeter, Devon.
Extent: Cornwall & Devon east of Exe.
Notes: No pre-Roman tribal centre. Intermarriage with other tribes uncommon. Strong traditions reaching back to bronze age. Became civilised due to foreign interest in tin mines. Notably friendly to strangers but fiercely combative when threatened.

Principal Tribal Sites

The Civitas Capital

ISCA DVMNONIORVM (Exeter, Devon) - Started life as the canabae outside the fortress of the Second Legion Augusta.

Four Poleis Assigned to the Tribe by Ptolemy

"Next to these [the Durotriges], but more to the west, are the Dumnoni, whose towns are: Voliba 14*45 52°00 ¹ Uxella 15*00 52°45 ² Tamara 15*00 52°15 ³ Isca, where is located Legio II Augusta 17*30 52°45 ..."

Currently unidentified.
VXELIS (Launceston, Cornwall) - Named Uxella in the Ravenna Cosmography. The name has been identified with the Somerset Axe, though no Roman settlement has so far been identified.
TAMARIS (Plymouth, Devon) - Named Tamara in the Ravenna Cosmography. Evidently a settlement on the River Tamar, though not positively identified.

Other Placenames from the Itineraries

NEMETOSTATIO (North Tawton, Devon) - The Roman earthwork here may be military, or possibly a tax-collection station. Named in the Ravenna Cosmography.
VOLIBA - Not identified. Fancifully associated with Golden, near Probus in Cornwall.
DVROCORNAVIVM - Named Purocoronavis in the Ravenna Cosmology, this probably refers to an important native Cornish hillfort, such as Carn Brea.

Other Romano-British Sites

Topsham (Devon) - Settlement and harbour serving Isca, which was connected via road and river.
ICTIS (St. Michael's Mount, Cornwall) - An ancient port, trading mainly in tin.
Nanstallon (Cornwall) - Square military enclosure, apparently associated with the tin workings nearby at Boscarne.
Taunton (Devon) - Ill-defined Roman settlement.
Mount Batten (Devon) - Iron Age tin port, continued in use in Roman times.
Plymouth (Devon) - Traces of Roman settlement have been found on the north side of the harbour.

The Dumnonian people continued to build new settlements throughout the Roman period, at sites such as Chysauster and Trevelgue Head, but their style of building was wholly-native in form, with no Romanised features. Evidently, the Dumnonii were set in their ways, and were not to accept Roman influence readily.

Near Padstow on the NW coast of Cornwall, a Roman site of some importance now lies buried under the sands on the other side of the Camel estuary, near St. Enodoc's Church; perhaps the western equivalent of a Saxon Shore Fort.

Industries

The primary economic product of the Dumnonii was tin, and the area had been mined since ancient times, and was exported from the ancient trading port of ICTIS.

The only Romanised building outside of the above-named locales, is that at Magor Farm, Illogan, not far from Camborne, which has been classed as a villa.

References in the Classics

You must be joking! There are no direct references to the Dumnonii in any of the classical sources apart from Ptolemy, who assigns four poleis to the tribe, only one of which has been satisfactorily identified (vide supra). His description of the canton is worth quoting in full, primarily because there isn't much else.

"... Description of the west side ... Uxella Estuary 16*00 53°30; Herculis Promontory 14*00 52°45; Antivestaeum or Bolerium Promontory 11*30 52°30; Damnonium or Ocrium Promontory 12*00 51°30.¹ Description of the south side below which is the Britannic Ocean.² After the Ocrium Promontory is: the mouth of the Cenio 14*003 51°45; the mouth of the Tamarus 15*40 52°10; the mouth of the Iscas 17*40 52°20; the mouth of the Alaunus 17*40 52°40;³ ... [?=]" (Ptolemy Geography ii.2)

Respectively; the River Axe in Somerset, Hartland Point in Devon, Land's End in Cornwall, and Lizard Point in Cornwall.
The English Channel.
Of the four rivers listed, the first and last mentioned are unknown, the remaining two have been identified with the River Tamar in Devon and Cornwall, and the River Exe in Devon.

For the British section of Ptolemy's Geography click here.