The Rough Tor Effect: early prehistoric monuments focusing on significant tors in Cornwall

Abstract

ABSTRACT A ceremonial monument cannot function without those people who carry knowledge of its metaphysics and practice, and it cannot continue into the future without instruction in its meaning. In this paper, we attempt to recover the meaning of Neolithic tradition as enacted on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall where prominent hills can be viewed at a great distance. It has long been recognised that hundreds of prehistoric monuments in Cornwall in some way ‘pay tribute’ to Rough Tor, a phenomenon known as the Rough Tor Effect. We discuss the Rough Tor Effect with particular reference to viewframes, granite structures made by positioning slabs through which Rough Tor – and a second significant tor on Stowe’s Hill – could be viewed. Through the form and orientation of viewframes we deduce some of the possible values communicated, and the community benefits conferred, through this mechanism of guiding perception of Rough Tor and Stowe’s Hill. We also note how Rough Tor was not only subject to distant observation. Direct interventions, especially cairn building, took place on and between Rough Tor’s three tors. We propose a tentative explanation of the reasoning behind these interventions.