Isca Dumnoniorum settlement there (modern Caerleon) to be distinguished as "Isca Augusta", while the Devonian Isca was called "Isca Dumnoniorum": Usk of the Dumnonians. Exeter began as settlements on a dry ridge ending in a spur overlooking a navigable river teeming with fish, with fertile land nearby. Although there have been no major prehistoric finds, these advantages suggest the site was occupied early. Coins had been discovered from the Hellenistic kingdoms, suggesting the existence of a settlement trading with the Mediterranean as early as . This is disputed however by Prof T P Wiseman who alleges the hoard was not genuine. Following
Celtic language decline in England a "vicus", and others end in elements denoting Roman features, such as "-caster", denoting "castra" ('forts'). There is a substantial body of names along the lines of "Walton"/"Walcot"/"Walsall"/"Walsden", many of which must include the Old English word "wealh" in the sense 'Celtic-speaker', and "Comberton", many of which must include Old English "Cumbre" 'Britons'. These are likely to have been names for enclaves of Brittonic-speakers─but again are not that numerous. In the last decade, however, scholars have stressed that Welsh and Cornish place-names from the Roman period seem no more likely to survive than Roman names in England: 'clearly name loss