The end of a long journey. Tumulus burials in Gran Canaria (Canary Islands) in the second half of the first millennium AD

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses the study of tumulus necropolises among the pre-Hispanic population of Gran Canaria. In this first characterisation, their emergence is contextualised in the social framework of the ancient Canarians and historical links with the North African sphere are proposed. Published radiocarbon determinations for the tumulus phenomenon of the first millennium AD on the continent have been reviewed and a Bayesian model has been created to estimate the onset and later tempo of this cultural expression on the island and its relationship with the African context. The tempo plot technique has also been used to examine the temporal activity pattern of tumulus necropolises in Gran Canaria. The results show that it was a late phenomenon, basically constrained to the eighth to eleventh centuries AD, and that it therefore represents a break with previous funerary practices. To explain these circumstances, the chronological data are related to the available archaeological and genetic information. They point to a complex process of endogenous social change, probably accelerated by external influences inserted within regional dynamics on the African mainland. It is proposed that tumulus monuments in Gran Canaria were the insular expression of this continental phenomenon that reached the island by the hand of people different from those who were the protagonists of the island’s first settlement event.

RÉSUMÉ

Ce travail aborde la question des enterrements de type tumulaire sur la Grande Canarie préhispanique, une première approche qui permet de contextualiser l’apparition de ces pratiques non seulement dans la structure sociale insulaire des anciens canariens mais aussi dans l’environnement nord-africain, avec lequel la population maintient des liens historiques. Les datations radiocarbone du phénomène tumulaire sur le continent appartenant au premier millénaire ont été revues. Le modèle bayésien créé permet d’estimer les limites temporelles de cette manifestation culturelle sur l’île et d’établir des liens avec le modèle africain. De plus, la technique du tempo plot facilite l’examen du modèle temporel d’activité dans les nécropoles tumulaires de la Grande Canarie. Les résultats mettent en lumière un phénomène tardif, limité aux huitième et onzième siècles après J.-C., manifestant une situation de rupture avec les formules funéraires antérieures. L’explication de ces circonstances passe par la mise en rapport des données chronologiques avec celles de type archéologique et génétique disponibles, lesquelles suggèrent un processus complexe de changement social endogène, probablement accéléré par des apports externes eux-mêmes insérés dans les dynamiques régionales du continent africain. La thèse défendue ici définit le peuplement aborigène de l’archipel canarien comme expression insulaire des événements survenus sur les territoires du Maghreb et du Sahara au cours du premier millénaire de l’ère commune.

KEYWORDS:

• Pre-Hispanic period
• tumulus necropolises
• Bayesian analysis
• tempo plot
• social change
• North African archaeology

Acknowledgements

This work was undertaken as part of the research project Cuerpos, objetos y espacios. muertes convergentes, muertes divergentes (2018PATRI05) financed with research funds from the CajaCanarias Foundation and La Caixa Banking Foundation. We should like to express our gratitude to Julie Campagne for translating the abstract into French, as well as the anonymous reviewers and Professor Kevin MacDonald, who provided many valuable contributions.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Verónica Alberto-Barroso

Verónica Alberto Barroso is a professional archaeologist and member of the TARHA research group at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. In the last 25 years, she has co-directed multiple projects studying aboriginal cemeteries in the Canary archipelago. Her research interests include the archaeology of death, bioanthropology, zooarchaeology and the colonisation dynamics of island territories.

Javier Velasco-Vázquez

Javier Velasco Vázquez obtained his doctorate in history from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. He is currently the Inspector of Historical Heritage for the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, as well as a member of the TARHA research group at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. His research interests include the archaeology of death, bioanthropology and the colonisation dynamics of island territories.

Teresa Delgado-Darias

Teresa Delgado Darias holds a PhD in history from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and is the curator of The Canarian Museum. Her main line of research is the study of human remains and she is the principal investigator of various research projects on the Pre-Hispanic population of the Canary Islands. Her research interests include the archaeology of death, bioanthropology and the colonisation dynamics of island territories.

Marco A. Moreno-Benítez

Marco Moreno Benítez is the director of Tibicena Archaeology and Heritage Agency, which carries out work related to cultural heritage in the Canary Islands. His research interests include the archaeology of territory and the colonisation dynamics of island territories. For more than a decade, he has been the head of the research and dissemination project ‘La Fortaleza’, one of the most important archaeological sites in Gran Canaria.