Parallel Alignments - Ancient Penwith | Cornwall

Near-parallel alignments are marked on the alignment maps in straw-yellow. Quite a few pass from the Lizard to Penwith. They are near-parallel within a range of just 1-3°. The number of alignments involved is uncanny and this is unlikely to be a result of chance.

Numerous cliff sanctuaries, tors and hill camps are involved, many of them Neolithic. Some sites, such as Trevarnon Round and Castle an Dinas, are Bronze-to-Iron Age but they could be older, since they are aligned with Neolithic sites of antiquity. Equally, they could have been plugged into existing alignments between older sites.

Why these particular azimuth orientations? Here is a possible clue: the alignments are oriented to azimuths around the Moon’s southern lunar minimum rising point (119.1° in 2500 BCE) and the rising point of Sirius (122.7°). So, there is a possibility of an astronomical purpose.

Terrestrially, there’s clearly an intention to connect the Lizard with Penwith, but this is not the case with all of the alignments, so it is probably not the primary intention. The orientation of the alignments fits the shape of the peninsula well. Natural sites such as cliff sanctuaries, tor and hilltop enclosures are prominent, suggesting a geological patterning here along a narrow 124-118˚ range of orientations.

If these alignments are astronomical, their inaccuracies might be explained by differences in elevation of the horizon as seen from a chosen backsight on each alignment (the place from which the azimuth is observed). This is difficult to prove though.

Why are there no comparable multiple parallels in any other direction? So, this question sits on the shelf labelled ‘outstanding issues’, awaiting answers.