Dumnonii the origin of the interpretation of Dumnonii as "deep valley dwellers" from his understanding of the Welsh of his time. John Rhys later theorized that the tribal name was derived from the name of a goddess, "Domnu", probably meaning "the goddess of the deep". The proto-Celtic root *dubno- or *dumno- meaning "the deep" or "the earth" (or alternatively meaning "dark" or "gloomy") 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
Southern England Chalk Formation name of the Western Downs is given. The Downs enclose the rich district of the Weald, where the chalk has eroded to form a much flatter landscape. In Wiltshire is Salisbury Plain, the Wiltshire Downs, and Cranborne Chase, all three famous for their archaeology, and it was on these downs that Augustus Pitt Rivers developed the methods of modern archaeological field work in the 19th century. The Berkshire Downs and White Horse Hills adjoin the northernmost part of this formation. The formation called Cranborne Chase () is a chalk plateau in central southern England, straddling the counties Dorset, Hampshire and