STANDING STONES OF THE LAND'S END

An Enquiry into their Function

by Ian McNeil Cooke

Published in 1998 in A5 paperback format of 40 pages with colour cover; 6 photographs, 23 line illustrations.

Bronze Age standing stones are more densely located in the Land’s End Peninsula of Cornwall than in any other area of Britain. Some are thought to have replaced earlier sacred wooden pillars, possibly representing the Tree of Life, and known functions of ‘holy’ stones in early Mediterranean cultures having fertility and protective phallic properties indicate some of the possibilities for Cornish menhirs suggested in this booklet.

"In the centre of most fields in this part of Cornwall (Land's End Peninsula) stands a pillar of rough granite 6 to 10 feet tall 'stuck upright' for the cattle to scratch themselves. In the Buryan district, a few years ago, many of them were removed from the fields because they interfered with the agricultural implements. It was found, in consequence, that the cattle knocked or pushed the hedges down, so that it became advisable to reinstate them." (extract from page 8)

"Once gods and goddesses became identified with mythological humans and animals, and named as individuals within the extensive pagan pantheon, boundary stones developed into simple carved angular pillars with the head of the deity on top and a pair of male genitals, usually erect, added to the front of the stone to emphasise his generative aspect as protector and provided of produce from the land. In Greece this god (Hermes) was originally represented as a mature bearded man who looked after flocks of animals and presided over business affairs (i.e. trade in livestock): he had the ability to lead souls of the dead back from the underworld into the world of the living and to restore them to life, and, as a protector, he was also responsible for dispensing justice and punishing wrong doers." (extract from page 16)

[ISBN 0-9512371-9-5]