The Government of the Canary Islands, the Cabildo of Tenerife and the City Council of Tegueste are planning the opening of an archaeological park in said municipality, which would be the first on the island, around the sites of Barranco Agua de Dios, declared a Site of Cultural Interest. .
The Government will be responsible for adapting the trail that makes the archaeological site of the Cueva de los Cabezazos visitable, among other areas of interest, and for its research.
The Cabildo will continue to finance the rehabilitation, conservation and restoration works of the property destined for the interpretation center, and the City Council will maintain its role as manager of the resources, as detailed by the regional executive this Wednesday.
The Cueva de los Cabezazos belongs to a set of natural cavities in the Barranco del Agua de Dios that were used by the aboriginal society as funerary and habitation spaces.
Furthermore, this archaeological area, with more than one hundred documented sites, is one of the Guanche settlements that has provided the most information about the pre-European era of the island.
Given the importance of this enclave, the General Directorate of Culture and Cultural Heritage reactivated the archaeological excavations in the cave this year with a multidisciplinary team from the University of La Laguna (ULL).
These investigations delved for the first time into the paleoenvironmental sequence of the site to obtain the impact of Guanche society on this natural environment.
At this time, the archaeological materials that were recovered in the last excavation campaign are being analyzed with the application of new methodologies in the Prehistory Laboratory of the Department of Geography and History of the ULL.
The general director of Culture and Cultural Heritage, Miguel Ángel Clavijo, the insular director of Territorial Heritage and Historical Heritage, Isabel Esteban, and the mayor of Tegueste, Ana Rosa Mena, have recently visited the works of the future interpretation center.
Clavijo has emphasized that the priority is to continue with archaeological investigations in this enclave, specifically in the emblematic Cueva de los Cabezazos, and to trace a series of interpretive trails to complement the visit to the archaeological park.
The intention of Patrimony is to “recover this ravine, one of the main areas of occupation of the menceyato of Tegueste, for the citizens”, so that they can “enjoy and learn what the history of the Guanche people has been in this area of the island of Tenerife ”.
Isabel Esteban has indicated that “there are a few months left” to be able to give the center museum use in which all the aboriginal activities are described and told that, subsequently, can be seen during visits to the sites of the Barranco Agua De Dios.
The mayor of Tegueste, Ana Rosa Mena, has spoken of a “last institutional push” to the project “to be able to interpret the ravine and make it visitable.”
