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
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