Verlamion, or Verlamio, was the tribal capital of the Catuvellauni tribe in Iron Age Britain from approximately 20 BC until shortly after the Roman invasion of 43 AD. The etymology is uncertain, perhaps the name means "settlement above the marsh", or "[settlement of] Uerulamos [Broad-Hand]" in Brittonic.[1]
It is believed that the capital was moved to the site by Tasciovanus (circa 25 to 5 BC). The location of the previous tribal capital is not certain, but there are some clues in Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico. One possibility is a site a few miles to the north near Wheathampstead, where a feature called the Devil's Dyke has been interpreted as part of the defences of a large oppidum near the River Lea. Tasciovanus was the first king to mint coins at Verlamion, beginning ca 20 BC. The centre grew under Tasciovanus' son, Cunobelinus.
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Cunobelinus may have been responsible for the construction of Beech Bottom Dyke a defensive earthwork near the settlement. However, it has been suggested that Beech Bottom Dyke is part of an unusually large defensive scheme including Devil's Dyke mentioned above.
At some point after the Roman conquest of Britain, the original Iron Age settlement came to be known by its Roman name, Verulamium.[2] In Saxon times St Albans was founded on an adjacent hill, leaving the site of Verulamium largely uninhabited.
Verulamium Museum has a pre-Roman section.[3]