The End of a World

and how the Tin Trade ended Cornish Megalithic Civilisation

This is for readers who are interested in ancient sites in Cornwall

I’m an historian who is deeply interested in prehistory, and I have an historian’s viewpoint, looking at longer-term processes at work over time. Over the last fifteen years I have done a lot of research in West Penwith, Cornwall, where I live, and here are a few new thoughts on that matter.

By examining its alignments system (see above) I was able to demonstrate that Penwith constituted a complete, integrated and focused magical landscape, an upgraded local ecosystem, and a cultured people who were at their peak in the Bronze Age.

This is about the transition from a matrifocal to a patriarchal culture, incrementally taking place during the Bronze Age.

Now a peripheral place, in that time Penwith was a central place because long-distance travel took place by sea and river – the land was extensively wooded and tracks were muddy. Penwith lay on an ancient maritime trading and cultural corridor stretching from Iberia to Britain and Ireland, so boats came from Europe every summer, landing at St  Michael’s Mount.

This pod is about the social and psycho-spiritual changes that went on through the 1,200 years of the megalithic part of the Bronze Age. It was a pretty sustainable culture, yet it was eventually overtaken by events.

An  enchantment, uplifting the land and people, was shattered. The megalithic period came to an end around 1200 BCE. It was the end of a  world – the Bronze Age Collapse, affecting Egypt, Greece, Mesopotamia and the whole of western Eurasia.

Recorded in the bluebell woods on our farm. For more about Penwith’s ancient sites, look here: ancientpenwith.org or here.

With love, Palden

Listen to the podcast here: https://palden.co.uk/podcasts.html or here on Spotify: