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Before the Romans invaded Britain, there was an Iron Age tribe settled in what is now Galloway- they were known as Novantae. Excavations at Rispain Camp, near Whithorn, showed it used to be a large fortified farmstead. This farmstead was occupied between 100 BC and 200 AD, showing that the people were engaged in agriculture.
It is unclear what their ethnic and cultural affinity was, however the area has a history that includes Gaels, Picts and Brythonic speaking people at various points in history.
The Novantae are thought to have inhabited the larger part of the Galloway Peninsula, comprising of the ancient counties of Kirkcudbrightshire, south-west Clyde, western Dumfries and Galloway, Wigtownshire and southern Ayrshire. The territories to the north-east belonged to the Selgovae Tribe and the territories to the south-east across the Solway Firth belonged to the Carvetii.
The Novantae lived in small enclosed settlements. They also constructed hillforts, some crannogs and brochs. The arrival of the Romans saw the building of stone-walled huts. It is believed they had
some kind of centre near Kirkcudbrightshire, originally starting out as a palisade enclosure before being upgraded to a set of timber and then stone ramparts. It is believed that once this was abandoned, the Romans used it to set up two practice camps as target practice, subjecting them to a mock siege.
Roman military presence in the area was minimal with only a small fortlet in the south-east of the Novantae territory. This is said to have been built to subdue them after they caused trouble for the Romans on Hadrian’s Wall.
The name Novantae disappears from records after the Romans left Britain, this is due to the fact it was the name they used for the tribe. The lands of the Novantae tribe were replaced later by the kingdoms of Rheged and Gododdin. Illustrations courtesy of The History Files
For further information about Rheged go to the following article on this website https://www.kirkcudbrighthistorysociety.org.uk/featured-article/discovery-of-lost-dark-age-kingdom-in-galloway-excavations-at-trustys-hill/