chiefdom · British Isles

Taexali

100 CE – 200 CE (approx.)

People of north-east Scotland recorded by Ptolemy, who named the headland of Kinnaird Head after them and listed their town Devana.

Origins

Ptolemy's Geography of about 150 places the Taexali in the north-east of Scotland, in modern Aberdeenshire, with a headland, Taexalorum Promontorium, usually identified as Kinnaird Head, and a settlement called Devana, perhaps near the Dee or the Don. They grew from local Iron Age farming communities of the lowlands between the Dee and the Deveron.

Rule and society

Nothing is recorded of their rulers. The region is rich in hillforts, souterrains and recumbent stone circles from earlier ages, and Roman marching camps, such as those at Raedykes and Normandykes, show that Roman armies under Agricola and later Severus passed through their lands. Mixed farming on fertile lowland soils supported a relatively dense population.

Decline and legacy

The Taexali disappear from the record after Ptolemy. Their territory later formed part of the Kingdom of the Picts, whose symbol stones are especially numerous in Aberdeenshire.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Taexali. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/taexali
MLA
“Taexali.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/taexali. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Taexali.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/taexali.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Taexali’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/taexali (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻