A team of researchers from the University of La Laguna (ULL) has carried out a study that makes it possible to identify and characterize the Guanche occupations in Las Cañadas del Teide, where they went up in summer accompanied by goats and sheep, with whom they shared domestic space.
This is one of the conclusions of the work carried out by members of the Laboratory of Micromorphology and Archaeological Biomarkers (AMBI Lab) of the ULL, which has been published by the journal Archeological and Anthropological Sciences.
The research team has been able to characterize the Guanche occupation model in one of the sites located at the highest altitude in Las Cañadas del Teide, the Roques de García volcanic tube, at 2,290 meters above sea level. According to the data obtained, the Guanche populations probably occupied the site seasonally in summer with their herd.
In addition, they possibly preselected the fuel that they were going to exploit before reaching the deposit, as evidenced by the presence of burned juniper wood, the ULL details in a statement.
This study provides a better understanding of the dynamics of occupation, resource management and use of natural spaces by the aboriginal groups of Tenerife. An “especially interesting” fact in an environment like Las Cañadas, inhospitable at many times of the year due to the altitude and its climatic and hydrological regime.
Thus, it provides “relevant data that contributes to enriching broad debates on archeology in the Canary Islands, such as the seasonality of occupations, the functioning of pastoral activity and the mobility of aboriginal populations”, adds the ULL in the statement.
It is also the first study published in the Canarian archaeological context that combines different high-resolution geoarchaeological techniques: soil micromorphology, the analysis of sedimentary lipid biomarkers and the study of stable isotopes in specific compounds. And it incorporates the first lipid reference collection of endemic plants from the Las Cañadas environment.
This research has been carried out at the AMBI Lab under the direction of researcher Carolina Mallol.
