The General Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Canary Islands Governmentin collaboration with the University of La Laguna (UL), has carried out various archaeological surveys of a superficial nature in the Teide National Park with the objective of inventory new archaeological sites and ethnographic sites.
In this annuity, the PRORED team, the company that directs the project, has located 64 Guanche enclaves and 33 ethnographic assets between Cañada Diego Hernández and La Grieta, in the surroundings of the Siete Cañadas ridge, and Montaña Negra and Montaña Blanca.
These archaeological actions represent the surface recognition of the elements generated by the Guanche society and the new ways of life after the conquest of Tenerife in 1496.
“The inventories help us understand how it was structured territorially, in aboriginal era, the high mountains of the island”, explains Hacomar Ruíz, archaeologist, in a note.
However, “in the field of Canary Islands it is easy to recognize the particularities that the Teide National Park has, for its climatological and orographic characteristicsbut that is not enough,” emphasizes the general director of Cultural Heritage, Nona Perera.
In addition to recognizing it, he says, “we have to know it, know about its past” and the only way to gain access to that knowledge “is by investigating through the archaeological method to be able to write the history of Teidespread it and stop being invisible”.
archaeological assets
With regard to archaeological assets, the main ones that stand out are the surface debris areas Ruiz specifies. Specifically, these are “concentrations of aboriginal ceramics, obsidian and compact rock flakes, however, we must also highlight the presence of aboriginal structures located in the surveyed areas, up to a total of nineteen, some of special interest and in very good condition. state of conservation”.
In fact, he indicates, “some of the units located in Black Mountain could be the result of an archaeological excavation, especially because they are large structures and it seems that inside they preserve a really important sedimentary package”.
In this campaign, the choice of prospected areas has been motivated by the interest aroused by the relationship between the Las Cañadas circus and the southeast region of Tenerife and because the study of this environment is key to understanding the routes used by the Guanche society in its access to Las Cañadas through the north face of the island.
Performances since 2014
Within the framework of the actions in the context of the Teide National Park, in recent years a archaeological prospecting and excavation program in order to deepen the knowledge of the historical occupation of Las Cañadas, complete the archaeological and ethnographic maps as well as also have an effective resource for the management and dissemination of its cultural heritage.
This new campaign supposes give continuity to the archaeological work started in 2014 with the National Parks Network project ‘Studies on the Archaeological Heritage of the Teide National Park’ and the research ‘Guanches and Europeans in Las Cañadas del Teide. Occupation, production and communication’ by Dr. Matilde Arnay de la Rosa, awarded by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.
In addition, the archaeological investigations carried out in Las Cañadas del Teide, from the fifties of the last century to the present, they have demonstrated the high intensity of the Guanche occupation, generating a varied repertoire of archaeological sites.
According to absolute dates obtained by carbon 14, the aboriginal society occupied the summits of Tenerife from at least the 5th century AD until well into the 17th century. In the specific case of Las Cañadas, it is known that they lived there seasonally and taking advantage of the varied resources offered by this environment, they built cabins and shelters, and used caves to shelter themselves.
With this project, surveys have been carried out in Roques Blancos, Cruz de Tea-Lomo de Chío, in Montaña de los Corrales, Cañada la Grieta, Angostura and Tabonal Negro, as well as other archaeological activities in different areas around Las Cañadas del Mount Teide.
