The Real History of Lyonesse or Cornish Atlantis
The lost city of Lyonesse, or the Cornish tale of Atlantis, describes a once great city that sunk under the waves in a storm. The tale survives in literature, but what about the historical accuracy of the tale? Is there any evidence to suggest Lyonesse was a real place?
According to the latest archeological findings, Lyonesse is far more real than we might have imagined. And, there are references to the island and its people in other historical accounts.
When did Lyonesse sink?
The most well-known surviving accounts we have today place the island‘s sinking in 1089 or 1099 AD. This is because the legend of the island got tangled up in medieval oral tradition and folklore—including the tales of King Arthur. Sometimes the island‘s sinking is dated to the 6th century, because of the inclusion of the real Cornish King, King Mark, but this is also simply medieval speculation.
When looking at the story itself, there are mentions of fertile lands, forests, and even Trevillian riding to Cornwall on his white horse. White horses in Celtic mythology are usually used by royalty or those from the Otherworld (like Rhiannon on her white mare).
All of the symbolism found in the tales of Lyonesse point to a more ancient origin of the story.
It wasn‘t until the 20th century that the dating of the sinking of the island was placed further back in time. Journalist and writer, C. Lewis Hind, published a book called Days in Cornwall where he placed the island‘s sinking at 3,000 BC.
He placed the sinking of the Isle during the Bronze Age because of the known rising sea levels close by at Mount‘s Bay. He theorized that the rising sea levels at this period would have drowned the island.
The Isles of Scilly at the time of 3,000 BC
How Cornish Atlantis sank below the waves
However, Hind‘s theory was not rooted in any archeology of the Scilly Islands themselves, not to mention that the Bronze Age flooding at Mount‘s Bay is miles away from the Scilly Islands.
It wasn‘t until 2015 that a group of archeologists would publish their findings on the real sinking date of Lyonesse, finally putting an end to the speculation.
Research collected by the Lyonesse Project (2009 to 2013), found that the islands have been continuously sinking at a rate of 10,000 m2 per year and that the sinking started much earlier than the Bronze Age.
Archaeologists found that during the Bronze Age, the Scilly Islands had indeed been one unified island. The island had a permanent population, thought to have settled there in the Mesolithic or perhaps earlier.
When archeologists looked further back in time to before the Bronze Age, they found that the island had been completely abandoned, with two-thirds of the entire island lost.
“(We found) some of the most significant loss of land at any time in the history of Scilly—equivalent to losing two-thirds of the entire modern area of the islands. ”
Atlantis and the Younger Dryas
What was the event that caused two-thirds of the island of Lyonesse to sink?
In the project, they noted that "a few influential scholars have favored the idea that Lyonesse stories recall the gradual post-glacial flooding of the Scilly Isles platform."
The melting of the ice sheets that covered most of Europe dates to around 1170 years ago, ending with the Younger Dryas. During this period, the world‘s sea levels rose rapidly, causing rising sea levels. Some theorize that the rising sea levels and melting of the ice sheets were caused by a comet, creating the deluge floods that we know of through mythology.
Interestingly, Doggerland, the land mass connecting Britain to Europe, also disappeared around the time of the melting ice sheets which lends credibility to their theory. Given the rapid melting of the ice sheets and the rising sea levels that followed, it‘s entirely possible that was the event that caused Lyonesse to disappear by two-thirds at a quick pace.
“The sea overflowed the shore, destroying towns, and drowning many persons, and innumerable oxen and sheep.”
How Lyonesse would have looked at 60 feet above the current sea level.
Who were the cornish atlanteans?
Of course, throughout history there are a number of literature references to Lyonesse, but what about real historical references? Do these historical accounts reveal who the real people of Cornish Atlantis were?
In the 1700s, Reverand Borlase, a Cornish Antiquary, wrote to Reverand Birch,
“Having made a little tour to the islands of Sylley last summer, and finding them very different from what I imagin’d.”
In the 18th century, myths and legends about the islands were already pervasive and deeply embedded into popular stories and mythology. But what about ancient history? If the island is ancient, then surely there has to be some mention of it?
Latin grammarian and compiler Gaius Iulius Solinus in the 3rd century AD remarked,
“This turbid strait also divides the island Silura (Scilly) from the shore which is held by the Dumnonii, a British tribe. The men of this island even now preserve an old custom: they do not use coins. They give and accept, obtaining the necessities of life by exchange rather than by money. They reverence gods, and the men and women equally declare knowledge of the future.”
Solinus from 240 AD speaks of the Scilly Islands in the singular, Siluram insulam. Another ancient writer from 400 AD Sulpicius Severus, also refers to the isle in the singular.
The references to Lyonesse throughout history paint a vivid picture. The people of the island did not follow Roman customs (like using money or having privately owned property) but represented an older way of life. A tribal, communal life that involved offerings to the gods and having equality among the genders.
These accounts also back up the scientific findings of the archeologists—that once, the Isles of Scilly were one island, Lyonesse.
Cornish Atlantis is real
While there hasn‘t been solid evidence of the Greek city of Atlantis, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that Cornish Atlantis was in fact a real place.
As we begin to unravel the secrets of the past with both literature analysis and history, it becomes clear that our ancient past is more complex than we once thought. These weren‘t primitive people that were "less" than us today, but intelligent people that we must seek to understand.
Read more legends
What historical and archaeological evidence do we have for the legendary city of Lyonesse? I delve into recent archaeological findings that place the sinking of the city at the time of the last ice age.