A History of Cornwall - The Iron Age

Dydh Da (Hello)!
Welcome to the seventh episode in my Overview series on Kernewek (Cornish) history! In this episode, we'll be taking a look at the final prehistoric period and discussing the arrival of the Celts, Druidism, mysterious fogous and the first written account of Kernow.
Dha Weles (see you)!

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
01:28 - The Celts
04:00 - Dumnonia
04:49 - Ictis and Pytheas
07:35 - Threat of Rome
09:05 - Population of Kernow
11:01 - Settlements, Farming, and Coinage
13:51 - Arrival of the Druids
15:41 - Promontory Forts
17:40 - Conclusion

Credits:

Footage:
@cornwallheritagetrust85
@LucasNott
@PhilHevican
@sambarton_photo
@StuFliesAroundCornwall
@TimeTeamOfficial
@ViewsofCornwall

Music:
Awel Vase | La Moresca

Bibliography:
- The Promontory People, Craig Weatherhill
- Cornwall: A History, Philip Payton
- The Ancient Celts, Second Edition, Barry Cunliffe, 2018
- Celtic Origins, the Western and the Eastern Celts, Wolfgang Meid, 2008
- Sex identification of a Late Iron Age sword and mirror cist burial from Hillside Farm, Bryher, Isles of Scilly, England, S. Mays et al., 2023
- Archaeology – 7th Edn., Colin Renfrew and Paul Bahn, 2016
- The Human Past – 4th Edn., Chris Scarre, 2018
- Caesar: the Conquest of Gaul – Penguin Classics
- Mapping British and Irish Hillforts – Gary Lock and Ian Ralston
- Celtic from the West 3, Atlantic Europe in the Metal ages: Questions of a Shared Language – John T. Koch and Barry Cunliffe
- Continental Connections: Exploring Cross-Channel Relationships from the Mesolithic to the Iron Age – Hugo Anderson-Whymark, Duncan Garrow, and Fraser Sturt
- Cornovia: Ancient Sites of Cornwall and Scilly – Craig Weatherhill
- Coins and Power in Late Iron Age Britain – John Creighton
- The Coins of the Ancient Celts – D. F. Allen
- Re-Approaching Celts: Origins, Society, and Social Change
- Who, Where, and What were the Celts? – Peter S Wells
- High mobility rates during the period of the "Celtic migrations"? - 87 Sr, 86 Sr and delta 18 O evidence from Early La T̬ne Europe РMirjam Scheeres
- Domesday Book: Cornwall – John Morris
- The Later Iron Age in Britain and Beyond – Colin Haselgrove and Tom Moore
- Appraising the Bigger Picture: Cornish Iron Age and Romano-British Lives and Settlements 25 Years on – Jacqueline A Nowakowski
- The Excavation of Bronze Age and Iron Age Settlements at Trevisker, St. Eval, Cornwall – ApSimon A. M. et al.
- The Early Iron Age in Britain and the Near Continent – Colin Haselgrove and Rachel Pope
- Druids - A. Ross
- Visions of Power: Imagery and Symbols in Late Iron Age Britain – John Creighton
- Exploring the World of the Druids – M. J. Green

[KernowekTim]

Righton? Good t' 'ear from you again. Back in the early '80s I found a Dobunnic gold stater over near my village. That was with an old Tesoro metal detector. Many years later a hoard of socketed axe-heads were found near there, too. Although the Dumnonni didn't mint coins, trade with the Dobunni and the Durotiges was a busy old job. I've lived out in the sticks up in England sinc '91: my wife is English born, from Welsh parents. I stuck five years at A&P Appledore Fal-Docks, after Crofty stopped winding. Five years industrial 'holiday camp'😉. Anyway, since moving to 'Dobunnic country', I've found two more gold staters and some silvers. Finding that first one got me "addicted" to Iron Age history. I need a new book-shelf! Pardon for ramblin'. Us old buggers yarn. Bleddy beauty of a video. Meur ras maw. KK. Remember Michael ✊

[StuFliesAroundCornwall]

Excellent exploration of the Cornish Iron Age. Your passion for history really shines through. 👍

[OzLeedsCrew]

Fantastic documentary, well done! Sitting here eating lunch at work in Australia - a 7th Gen Aussie with Cornish ancestry on both sides

[chuncite]

was hoping you might talk more about the interactions between the bronze age people and the celts - interesting about the carving in lamorna though.

[rickymherbert]

Thank you for more history on my home county, pictures of the open sea pool i learned to swim in and Compass Point. I would suspect the threat they were guarding aginst came out of the Mediterranean and it's slavers but we will probably never kow that answer. Keep up the great and interesting content. Meur ras. 👍

[peterbruce]

For me, the Fogous were definitely for spiritual experience with turns or little side chambers for staying in and blocking out all light. There is a practical/mythological connection to Gaia being 'grounded' in the earth, there is the lack of light which is important to disrupt routine daily biorhythm/mind cycles and there would be a spiritual person/shaman guiding the person through life stage initiations or 'dark nights of the soul'. The incarceration underground without light for over 24hrs alters our brain chemistry producing more DMT as well as the lack of other stimulation being disorienting. Under the guidance of the 'shaman' the inner mind is confronted to look at the world differently and come out of the experience a different person more in touch with themselves and resolved in 'knowing' what to do. The Asclepions were used by the Greeks and other societies used other means to help people until religion came along and said it was about following outer rules.

[HimWitDaHair]

What's the difference between a Kernewec Foguu and an Irish soutteraine? They seem like the same thing to me, especially considering they only occur in the West, nearer Ireland

[almord]

Pretty good, though a have one gripe. Often placenames are given and a map of the region is displayed. It would be more informative to have arrows or other indicator too. Otherwise you're trying to locate the name on a map with many others.

[Kernow-Fam]

Any interest in presenting for a Cornish American society ?

[kenny]

Great info - not great pronunciation!
Kernewek/Kernowek - more towards "Kernek" with a slight o sound before the 2nd e. It has a silent w as in Boscawen-un ("boskaa-noon")
Chysauster - "tche-ZOYster" (hardly ever pronounced right by people not from there!)
Carn Euny - more towards "oonie" than "younie"
Fougou/Fogou - "foo-goo"
Chun (Castle) - "choon"
Sorry to be picky but I think it's important to preserve the traditional pronunciation against Anglicisation. Look what happened to Redruth! no-one pronounces that "r'DRUTH" anymore!
That said I enjoyed the vid, thanks!