 Statue ofTegueste atCandelaria, Tenerife | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Languages | |
| Guanche (historically) | |
| Religion | |
| Animism (Guanche mythology) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Berbers,Canary Islanders |
TheGuanche were theindigenous inhabitants of theSpanishCanary Islands, located in theAtlantic Ocean some 100 kilometres (60 mi) to the west of modernMorocco and theNorth African coast.[1] The islanders spoke theGuanche language, which is believed to have been related to theBerber languages of mainland North Africa; the language became extinct in the17th century, soon after the islands were colonized.
It is believed that the Guanche may have arrived at the archipelago some time in thefirst millennium BC. The Guanche were the only indigenous people known to have lived in theMacaronesian archipelago region before the arrival ofEuropeans. There is no accepted evidence that the other Macaronesianarchipelagos (theCape Verde Islands,Madeira and theAzores) were inhabited.
After the commencement of theSpanish conquest of the Canaries, starting in the early15th century, many natives were outright killed by the Spanish or died of exposure to new pathogens during the social disruption.[2][3][1] Eventually, any remaining survivors were assimilated into the new Spanish population and associated culture.[4] Elements of their original culture survive withinCanarian customs and traditions, such asSilbo (thewhistled language ofLa Gomera Island), as well as some lexicon ofCanarian Spanish. Some scholars have classified the destruction of the Guanche people and culture as an example of colonialgenocide.[2]
In 2017, the firstgenome-wide data analysis of the ethnic Guanche confirmed a North African origin, genetically being most similar to ancient North AfricanBerber peoples of the mainland African deserts.[5]
The native termguanachinet literally translated means "person ofTenerife" (fromGuan = person andAchinet = Tenerife).[1] It was modified, according toJuan Núñez de la Peña, by theCastilians into "Guanche".[6] Though etymologically an ancient, Tenerife-specific term, the wordGuanche is now used mostly to refer to the pre-Hispanic Indigenous inhabitants of the entire archipelago.[7]
Genetic and linguistic evidence show that North African peoples made a significant contribution to the aboriginal population of the Canaries, notably, followingdesertification of theSahara (post-6000 BC). There are ties between the Guanche language and the Berber languages of North Africa, particularly when comparingnumeral systems.[8][9] Research into the genetics of the Guanche population has led to the conclusion that they share an ancestry with Berber peoples who immigrated from aroundWestern Sahara.[5][10][11]
The islands were visited by a number of other peoples and representatives of distant civilizations during recorded history; theNumidians,Phoenicians, andCarthaginians all knew of the islands and made frequent visits,[12] including expeditions dispatched fromMogador byJuba.[13]
Based on Romanartifacts, found on and near the island ofLanzarote, the Romans visited the Canary Islands during their occupation of mainland North Africa between the1st and4th centuries AD; the artifacts found show that the Romans engaged in trade with the people of the island. However, there is no evidence of them ever settling on or invading the Canaries.[14]Archaeology of the Canaries seems to reflect diverse levels of technology, with items differing widely from theNeolithic culture that would have been encountered by the Spanish, at the time of their conquest.
Scholars believe that the original settling by humans on the islands likely resulted in theextinction of uniquely-adaptedendemicspecies, such asreptiles andmammals exhibitinginsular gigantism; one example is believed to beCanariomys bravoi, the extinct giant rat of Tenerife.
Pliny the Elder, aRoman author and military officer drawing from the accounts ofJuba II (ancient King ofMauretania), stated that a Mauretanian expedition to the islands, circa50 BC, found theruins of great buildings, albeit with no population to speak of.[15] If this account is accurate, it may suggest that the Guanche were not the only inhabitants, or the first ones;[1] alternatively, this could imply that the Mauretanian expedition did not explore the islands thoroughly.[citation needed]
Tenerife, specifically the archaeological site of theCave of the Guanches inIcod de los Vinos, has provided evidence of habitation dating to the6th century BC. This is based on the analyses ofceramics andpottery artifacts that were found inside the cave.[16]
Historically, the Guanche were the first peoples of Tenerife. Their population seems to have lived in relative obscurity and isolation up until the time of Castilian conquest (ca. the14th century);Genoese,Portuguese, andCastilian ships may have visited the archipelago earlier for trade purposes, from the second half of the8th century onward. The Spanish gradually applied the term "Guanche" to the indigenous populations of all seven Canary Islands,[1] with those living on Tenerife being the most important or powerful.
What remains of their language, Guanche—a few expressions, vocabulary words and the proper names of ancient chieftains, still borne by certain families[1]—exhibits positive similarities with the Berber languages.[8][9] The first reliable account of the Guanche language was provided by the Genoese explorerNicoloso da Recco in 1341, with a translation of numbers used by the islanders.
According to European chroniclers, the Guanche did not possess a system of writing at the time of conquest; their potential writing system may have fallen into disuse, or aspects of it were simply overlooked by the colonizers. Inscriptions, glyphs, rock paintings and carvings are all quite abundant throughout the archipelago.Petroglyphs attributed to otherMediterranean civilizations have also been found on some of the islands. In1752,Domingo Vandewalle, a military governor ofLas Palmas,[1] ventured to investigate the petroglyphs. Aquilino Padron, a priest at Las Palmas, catalogued inscriptions at El Julan, La Candía and La Caleta, all onEl Hierro. In1878, Dr. René Verneau discovered rock carvings in the ravines of Las Balos that resembledLibyan[1] orNumidian script, dating from the time ofRoman occupation or earlier. In other locations,Libyco-Berber script has been identified.
The geographic accounts ofPliny the Elder and ofStrabo mention theFortunate Isles but do not report anything about their populations.
An account of the Guanche population may have been made around AD 1150 by the Arab geographerMuhammad al-Idrisi in theNuzhatul Mushtaq, a book he wrote forKing Roger II of Sicily. Al-Idrisi reports a journey in the Atlantic Ocean made by the Mugharrarin ("the adventurers"), a family ofAndalusian seafarers fromLisbon. The only surviving version of this book, kept at theBibliothèque Nationale de France, and first translated byPierre Amédée Jaubert, reports that, after having reached an area of "sticky and stinking waters," the Mugharrarin moved back and first reached an uninhabited Island (Madeira orHierro), where they found "a huge quantity of sheep, which its meat was bitter and inedible". They "continued southward" and reached another island where they were soon surrounded by barks and brought to "a village whose inhabitants were often fair haired with long and flaxen hair and the women of a rare beauty." Among the villagers, one spoke Arabic and asked them where they came from. Then the king of the village ordered them to bring villagers back to the continent. There they were surprised to be welcomed by Berbers.[17]
Apart from the marvelous and fanciful content of this history, this account suggests that the Guanche had sporadic contacts with populations from the mainland. Al-Idrisi described the Guanche men as tall and of a reddish-brown complexion.[18]
During the 14th century, the Guanche are presumed to have had other contacts withBalearic seafarers from Spain. This is based on the Balearicartifacts found on several of the Canary Islands.[citation needed]
The Castilian conquest of the Canary Islands began in 1402, with the expedition ofJean de Béthencourt andGadifer de la Salle to the island of Lanzarote. Gadifer invaded Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.
The other five islands fought back. El Hierro and theBimbache population were the next to fall, then La Gomera, Gran Canaria, La Palma and in 1496, Tenerife.
In theFirst Battle of Acentejo (31 May 1494), calledLa Matanza (the slaughter), Guanche ambushed the Castilians in a valley and killed many. Only one in five of the Castilians survived, including the leader,Alonso Fernandez de Lugo.
Lugo later returned to the island with the alliance of the kings of the southern part of the island. He defeated the Guanches in theBattle of Aguere. The northern Menceyatos or provinces fell after theSecond Battle of Acentejo with the defeat of the successor ofBencomo, Bentor, Mencey of Taoro—what is now the Orotava Valley—in 1496.
Various scholars have used the term "genocide" to describe the conquest of the Canary Islands.[2][19][20]Mohamed Adikhari argues that the Canary Islands were the scene of "Europe's first overseas settler colonial genocide," and that the mass killing and enslavement of natives, along with forced deportation, sexual violence and confiscation of land and children constituted an attempt to "destroy in whole" the Guanche people.[2] The tactics used in the Canary Islands in the 15th century served as a model for the Iberian colonisation of the Americas.[2][19]
The nativeGuanche language is now known only through a few sentences and individual words, supplemented by several placenames. Many modernlinguists propose that it belongs to theBerber branch of theAfroasiatic languages.[8][9][21]
However, while there are recognizable Berber words (particularly with regards to agriculture) within the Guanche language, no Berber grammatical inflections have been identified; there is a large stock of vocabulary that does not bear any resemblance to Berber whatsoever.[22]
Other strong similarities to the Berber languages are reflected in their counting system, while some authors suggest the Canarian branch would be a sister branch to the surviving continental Berber languages, splitting off during the early development of the language family and before theterminus post quem for the origin of Proto-Berber.[23]
Little is known of the religion of the Guanches. There was a general belief in a supreme being, calledAchamán in Tenerife,Acoran in Gran Canaria, Eraoranhan in Hierro, andAbora in La Palma. The women of Hierro worshipped a goddess calledMoneiba. According to tradition, the male and female gods lived in mountains, from which they descended to hear the prayers of the people. On other islands, the natives venerated thesun,moon,earth, andstars. A belief in an evil spirit was general. The demon of Tenerife was calledGuayota and lived at the peak ofTeide volcano, which was thehell calledEcheyde;[1] in Tenerife and Gran Canaria, the minor demons took the form of wild black woolly dogs called Jucanchas[24] in the first andTibicenas[25] in the latter, which lived in deep caves of the mountains, emerging at night to attack livestock and human beings.
InTenerife,Magec (god of the Sun) andChaxiraxi (the goddess mother) were also worshipped. In times of drought, the Guanches drove their flocks to consecrated grounds, where the lambs were separated from their mothers in the belief that their plaintive bleating would melt the heart of the Great Spirit.[1] During the religious feasts, hostilities were held in abeyance, from war to personal quarrels.
Idols have been found in the islands, including the Idol of Tara (Museo Canario,Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) and theGuatimac (Museum Archaeological of Puerto de la Cruz in Tenerife). But many more figures have been found in the rest of the archipelago.
Most researchers agree that the Guanches performed their worship in the open, under sacred trees such aspine ordrago, or near sacred mountains such as MountTeide, which was believed to be the abode of the devilGuayota. Mount Teide was sacred to the aboriginal Guanches and since 2007 is aWorld Heritage Site. But sometimes the Guanches also performed worship in caves, as in "Cave of Achbinico" in Tenerife. Until the 20th century, there were in the Canary Islands (especially in northern Tenerife) individuals called "Animeros." They were similar to healers and mystics with a syncretic beliefs combining elements of the Guanche religion and Christianity. As in other countries close to the islands (e.g.marabouts from theMaghreb), theAnimeros were considered "persons blessed by God."[26]
| God | Role |
|---|---|
| Achamán | Thesupreme god of the Guanches on the island of Tenerife; he is the father god and creator. |
| Chaxiraxi | The native Guanche goddess known as "supporter of he who holds the world [Abreu (ca. 1590, III, 13) d. 1676: 90r]."[27] |
| Guayaxerax | A divine child, son of Chaxiraxi and "supporter of Heaven and Earth." [Abreu (ca. 1590, III, 13) d. 1676: 90r].[28] |
| Magec | The god of theSun and the light, and also thought to be one of the principaldivinities. |
| Achuguayo | The "Supreme Being," according to oral tradition. [Bethencourt Alfonso (1911) 1994b: 260].[29] |
| Achuhucanac | Rain god, identified with the supreme god (Achamán). |
| Guayota | The principal malignant deity and Achamán's adversary, who dwells inside Mount Teide. |
| Being | Role |
|---|---|
| Maxios | Benevolent minorgods or genies; domestic spirits and guardians of specific places. |
| Tibicenas | Demons in the form of black dogs, these were children of Guayota, the malignant deity. |
The Guanches hadpriests orshamans who were connected with the gods and ordained hierarchically:
| Religious authority | Jurisdiction | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Guadameñe orGuañameñe | Tenerife | spiritual advisers to theMenceyes (Aboriginal kings), who directed the worship. |
| Faykan or Faicán | Gran Canaria | a spiritual and religious person in charge, who directed the worship. |
| Maguadas or Arimaguadas | Tenerife Gran Canaria | women priestesses dedicated to worship. They took part in some rituals. |
| Kankus | Tenerife | the priests responsible for the worship of the ancestor spirits and Maxios (minor gods or genies). |
Beñesmen orBeñesmer was a festival of the agricultural calendar of the Guanches (the Guanche new year) to be held after the gathering of crops devoted to Chaxiraxi (on August 15). In this event the Guanches shared milk,gofio, sheep or goat meat. At the present time, this coincides with the pilgrimage to the Basilica of theVirgin of Candelaria (Patron of Canary Islands).
Among the cultural events are significant traces of aboriginal traditions at the holidays and in the current Romería Relief inGüímar (Tenerife) and the lowering of the Rama, in Agaete (Gran Canaria).[30]
Mummification was not commonly practiced throughout the islands but was highly developed onTenerife in particular. InGran Canaria there is currently a debate on the true nature of the mummies of the ancient inhabitants of the island, as researchers point out that there was no real intention to mummify the deceased and that the good conservation of some of them is due rather to environmental factors.[31] InLa Palma they were preserved by these environmental factors and inLa Gomera, andEl Hierro the existence of mummification is not verified. InLanzarote andFuerteventura this practice is ruled out.
The Guanchesembalmed their dead; many mummies have been found in an extreme state of desiccation, each weighing not more than 3 kg (7 lb). Two almost inaccessible caves in a vertical rock by the shore 5 km (3 mi) from Santa Cruz on Tenerife are said still to contain remains. The process of embalming seems to have varied. In Tenerife and Gran Canaria, the corpse was simply wrapped up in goat and sheep skins, while in other islands a resinous substance was used to preserve the body, which was then placed in a cave difficult to access, or buried under atumulus.[32] The work of embalming was reserved for a special class, with women tending to female corpses, and men for the male ones. Embalming seems not to have been universal.[1]
In theMuseo de la Naturaleza y el Hombre (Santa Cruz de Tenerife) mummies of original inhabitants of the Canary Islands are displayed.
In 1933, the largest Guanche necropolis of the Canary Islands was found, at Uchova in the municipality ofSan Miguel de Abona in the south of the island of Tenerife. This cemetery was almost completely looted; it is estimated to have contained between 60 and 74 mummies.[33]
Although little is known about this practice among them, it has been shown that they performed bothanimal sacrifices andhuman sacrifices.[34]
InTenerife during the summer solstice, the Guanches killed livestock and threw them into a fire as an offering to the gods.[34] Bethencourt Alfonso has claimed that goat kids were tied by the legs, alive, to a stake so that they could be heard bleating by the gods. It is likely that animals were also sacrificed on the other islands.[34]
As for human sacrifices, in Tenerife it was the custom to throw a living child from thePunta de Rasca at sunrise at the summer solstice. Sometimes these children came from all parts of the island, even from remote areas ofPunta de Rasca. It follows that it was a common custom of the island.[34] On this island sacrificing other human victims associated with the death of the king, where adult men rushed to the sea are also known. Embalmers who produced theGuanche mummies also had a habit of throwing themselves into the sea one year after the king's death.[34]
Bones of children mixed with lambs and kids were found inGran Canaria, and in Tenerife amphorae have been found with remains of children inside. This suggests a different kind of ritual infanticide than those who were thrown overboard.[35]
Child sacrifice has been seen in other cultures, especially in theMediterranean—Carthage (nowTunisia),Ugarit in what is nowSyria,Cyprus andCrete.[35][relevant?]
The political and social institutions of the Guanches varied. In some islands like Gran Canaria, hereditaryautocracy by matrilineality prevailed,[36] in others the government waselective. In Tenerife all the land belonged to the kings who leased it to their subjects.[1] In Gran Canaria,suicide was regarded as honorable, and whenever a new king was installed, one of his subjects willingly honored the occasion by throwing himself over a precipice.[1][37] In some islands,polyandry was practised;[1] in others they weremonogamous. Insult of a woman by an armed man was allegedly a capital offense.[1] Anyone accused of a crime had to attend a public trial in Tagoror, a public court where those prosecuted were sentenced after a trial.
The island of Tenerife was divided into nine small kingdoms (menceyatos), each ruled by a king orMencey. The Mencey was the ultimate ruler of the kingdom, and at times, meetings were held between the various kings. When the Castilians invaded the Canary Islands, the southern kingdoms joined the Castilian invaders on the promise of the richer lands of the north; the Castilians betrayed them after ultimately securing victory at the Battles ofAguere andAcentejo.
In Tenerife, the grand MenceyTinerfe and his father Sunta governed the unified island, which afterwards was divided into nine kingdoms by the children of Tinerfe.
Guanches woregarments made fromgoat skins or woven from plant fibers called Tamarcos, which have been found in the tombs of Tenerife. They had a taste for ornaments and necklaces of wood, bone and shells, worked in different designs. Beads of baked earth, cylindrical and of all shapes, with smooth or polished surfaces, mostly colored black and red, were fairly common. Dr. René Verneau suggested that the objects the Castilians referred to aspintaderas, baked clay seal-shaped objects, were used as vessels for painting the body in various colours. They manufactured roughpottery, mostly without decorations, or ornamented by making fingernail indentations.
Guanche weapons adapted to the insular environment (using wood, bone,obsidian and stone as primary materials), with later influences from medieval European weaponry. Basic armaments in several of the islands includedjavelins of 1 to 2 m in length (known asBanot on Tenerife); round, polished stones; spears; maces (common in Gran Canaria and Tenerife, and known asMagado andSunta, respectively); and shields (small in Tenerife and human-sized in Gran Canaria, where they were known asTarja, made ofDrago wood and painted with geometric shapes). After the arrival of the Europeans, Guanche nobility from Gran Canaria were known to wield large wooden swords (larger than the European two-handed type) calledMagido, which were said to be very effective against both infantrymen and cavalry. Weaponry made of wood was hardened with fire. These armaments were commonly complemented with an obsidian knife known asTabona.
Dwellings were situated in natural or artificial caves in the mountains. In areas where cave dwellings were not feasible, they built small round houses and, according to the Castilians, practiced crude fortification.
| Spanish | Guanche |
|---|---|
| Tenerife | Achinech |
| Achineche | |
| Asensen | |
| La Gomera | Gomera |
| Gomahara | |
| La Palma | Benahoare |
| El Hierro | Eseró |
| Heró | |
| Gran Canaria | Tamaran |
| Lanzarote | Titerogakaet |
| Titeroigatra | |
| Fuerteventura | Maxorata |
| Erbania | |
| Erbani |
Maca-Meyer et al. 2003 extracted 71 samples ofmtDNA from Guanches buried at numerous Canary Islands (c. 1000 AD). The examined Guanches were found to have closest genetic affinities to modern MoroccanBerbers,Canary Islanders andSpaniards. They carried a significantly high amount of the maternal haplogroupU6b1. U6b1 is found at very low frequencies in North Africa today, and it was suggested that later developments have significantly altered the Berber gene pool. The authors of the study suggested that the Guanches were descended from migrants from mainland North Africa related to the Berbers, and that the Guanches contributed 42–73% to the maternal gene pool of modern Canary Islanders.[38]
Fregel et al. 2009a extracted 30 samples ofY-DNA from Guanches of the Canary Islands. These belonged to the paternal haplogroupsE1a*, (3.33%),E1b1b1a* (23.33%),E1b1b1b* (26.67%),I* (6.67%),J1* (16.67%),K*,P* (3.33%), andR1b1b2 (10.00%). E1a*, E1b1b1a* and E1b1b1b* are common lineages among Berbers, and their high frequency among the Guanches were considered evidence that they were migrants from North Africa. R1b1b2 and I* are very common in lineages in Europe, and their moderate frequency among the examined Guanche males was suggested to have been a result of prehistoric gene flow from Europe into the region across theMediterranean. It was found that Guanche males contributed less to the gene pool of modern Canary Islanders than Guanche females (as would be expected from the extremely bloody conquest of the islands). Haplogroups typical among the Guanche have been found at high frequencies inLatin America, suggesting that descendants of the Guanche played an active role in theSpanish colonization of the Americas.[39]
Fregel et al. 2009b extracted the mtDNA of 30 Guanches fromLa Palma, (Benahoaritas). 93% of their mtDNA haplogroups were found to be ofWest Eurasian origin, while 7% were ofsub-Saharan African origin. About 15% of their West Eurasian maternal lineages are specific toEurope and theNear East rather than North Africa, suggesting that the Benahoaritas traced partial descent from either of these regions. The examined Benahoaritas were found to have high frequencies of the maternal haplogroups U6b1 andH1-16260. U6b1 has not been found in North Africa, while H1-16260 is "extremely rare." The results suggested that the North African population from whom the Benahoaritas and other Guanches descended has been largely replaced by subsequent migrations.[40]
Pereira et al. 2010 studies the origins of the maternal haplogroupU6, which is characteristic of Guanches. It was suggested that the U6 was brought to North Africa byCro-Magnon-like humans from the Near East during theUpper Paleolithic, who were probably responsible for the formation of theIberomaurusian culture.[41] It was also suggested that the maternal haplogroup H1, also frequent among Guanches, was brought to North Africa during theHolocene by migrants from Iberia, who may have participated in the formation of theCapsian culture.[41] In a further study,Secher et al. 2014 suggested that U6 was brought to the Levant from Central Europe in theUpper Paleolithic by people of theAurignacian culture, forming theLevantine Aurignacian (c. 33000 BC), whose descendants had then further spread U6 as part of a remigration into Africa. U6b1a was suggested to have been brought to the Canary Islands during the initial wave of settlement by Guanches, while U6c1 was suggested to have been brought in a second wave.[42]
Fregel et al. 2015 examined the mtDNA of Guanches ofLa Gomera (Gomeros). 65% of the examined Gomeros were found to be carriers of the maternal haplogroup U6b1a. The Gomero appeared to be descended from the earliest wave of settlers to the Canary Islands. The maternal haplogroupsT2c1 andU6c1 may have been introduced in a second wave of colonization affecting the other islands. It was noted that 44% of modern La Gomerans carry U6b1a. It was determined that La Gomerans have the highest amount of Guanche ancestry among modern Canary Islanders.[43]
Ordóñez et al. 2017 examined the remains of a large number of Guanches of El Hierro (Bimbache) buried at Punta Azul, El Hierro (c. 1015–1200 AD). The 16 samples of Y-DNA extracted belonged to the paternal haplogroupsE1a (1 sample),E1b1b1a1 (7 samples) andR1b1a2 (R1b-M269) (7 samples).[44] All the extracted samples ofmtDNA belonged to the maternal haplogroupH1-1626. The Bimbache were identified as descendants of the first wave of Guanche settlers on the Canary Islands, as they lacked the paternal and maternal lineages identified with the hypothetical second wave.[45]
Rodríguez-Varela et al. 2017 examined theatDNA of 11 Guanches buried at Gran Canaria and Tenerife. The 3 samples of Y-DNA extracted all belonged to the paternal haplogroupE1b1b1b1a1 (E-M183), while the 11 samples of mtDNA extracted belonged to the maternal haplogroupsH1cf,H2a,L3b1a (3 samples),T2c12, U6b1a (3 samples),J1c3 and U6b.[46] It was determined that the examined Guanches were genetically similar between the 7th and 11th centuries AD, and that they displayed closest genetic affinity to modern North Africans, "but with a tendency (especially for individuals from Gran Canaria) to occupy a space outside modern Northwest African variation, closer to Europeans." The evidence supported the notion that the Guanches were descended from a Berber-like population who had migrated from mainland North Africa. Among modern populations, Guanches were also found to be genetically similar to modernSardinians. Some models found the Guanche to be more closely related to modern Sardinians than modern North Africans. They were determined to be carriers ofEarly European Farmer (EEF) ancestry, which probably spread into North Africa from Iberia during the Neolithic, or perhaps also later.[47] One Guanche was also found to have ancestry related to European hunter-gathers, providing further evidence of prehistoric gene flow from Europe. It was estimated that modern Canary Islanders derive 16–31% of their atDNA from the Guanches. Furthermore, according to the phenotype analysis, these Guanche samples were showing light and medium skin, dark hair and brown eyes.[5]
Fregel et al. 2018 examined remains at the Late Neolithic site ofKelif el Boroud, Morocco (c. 3780–3650 BC). The Kelif el Boroud people were modeled as being equally descended from people buried at the Neolithic sites ofIfri N'Ammar, Morocco (c. 5325–4786 BC) and theCave of El Toro, Spain (c. 5280–4750 BC). The Kelif el Boroud were thus determined to have carried 50% EEF ancestry, which may have spread with theCardial Ware culture from Iberia to North Africa during the Neolithic. After the Kelif el Boroud people, additional European ancestry may have been brought to the region from Iberia by people of theBell Beaker culture. Guanches were found to the genetically very similar to the Kelif el Boroud people.[48] In a 2020 review Fregel et al. identified European Bronze Age ancestry in the Guanches, which could be explained by "the presence of Bell-Beaker pottery in the North African archaeological record," as well as observing a certain admixture "possibly related to trans-Saharan migrations".[49]
Fregel et al. 2019 examined the mtDNA of 48 Guanches buried on all the islands of the Canaries. They were found to be carrying maternal lineages characteristic of North Africa, Europe and the Near East, with Eurasian lineages centered around the Mediterranean being the most common. It was suggested that some of these Eurasian haplogroups had arrived in the region through Chalcolithic and Bronze Age migrations from Europe. Genetic diversity was found to be the highest at Gran Canaria, Tenerife, and La Palma, while Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and particularly La Gomera and El Hierro had low diversity. Significant genetic differences were detected between Guanches of western and eastern islands, which supported the notion that Guanches were descended from two distinct migration waves. It was considered significant that 40% of all examined Guanches so far belonged to the maternalhaplogroup H.[50]
_of_haplogroup_H1_in_western_Eurasia_and_North_Africa..png)
Serrano et al. 2023 analysed genome-wide data from 49 Guanche individuals, whose ancestry was modelled as comprising 73.3%Morocco Late Neolithic, 6.9% Morocco Early Neolithic, 13.4%Germany Bell Beaker and 6.4%Mota, on average. Germany Bell Beaker ancestry reached 16.2% and 17.9% in samples from Gran Canaria and Lanzarote respectively.[51]
Regarding mitochondrial DNA, the maternal lineages are characterized by the prevalence of North-African lineages, followed by Europeans and finally in a small percentage by Sub-Saharans. According to different studies, the percentages are the following:
| North-African | European | Sub-Saharan | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canary Islands[52] | 57% | 43% | 0 |
| Canary Islands[53] | 50.2% | 43.2% | 6.6% |
| Gran Canaria[54] | 55% | 45% | 0 |
A 2018 study of 400 adult men and women of all the islands, except La Graciosa, examined the relationship of Canarian genetic diversity with the more prevalent complex diseases in the archipelago. It detected that Canarian DNA shows distinctive genetics, resulting from variables such as the geographical isolation of the islands, environmental adaptations and the historical mixture of Pre-Hispanic population of the archipelago (coming from North Africa), with European and Sub-Saharan individuals. Specifically, the study estimated that the Canarian population, at an autosomal level, is 75% European, 22% North-African and 3% Sub-Saharan.[55]
The table below shows the genomic proportions of North African and Sub-Saharan African ancestry by island.[56]
| North African | Sub-Saharan African | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Average | Maximum | Minimum | Average | Maximum | |
| Fuerteventura | 0.218 | 0.255 | 0.296 | 0.011 | 0.027 | 0.046 |
| Lanzarote | 0.214 | 0.254 | 0.296 | 0.014 | 0.032 | 0.057 |
| Gran Canaria | 0.155 | 0.200 | 0.264 | 0.005 | 0.032 | 0.082 |
| Tenerife | 0.149 | 0.208 | 0.255 | 0.002 | 0.015 | 0.057 |
| La Gomera | 0.160 | 0.221 | 0.289 | 0.013 | 0.048 | 0.092 |
| La Palma | 0.170 | 0.200 | 0.245 | 0.000 | 0.013 | 0.032 |
| El Hierro | 0.192 | 0.246 | 0.299 | 0.005 | 0.020 | 0.032 |
The main and most significant archaeological sites on each island are:[57]
Many of the islands' museums possess collections of archaeological material and human remains from theprehistory and history of the archipelago of the Canaries. Some of the most important are:
In 2001, theChurch of the Guanche People (Iglesia del Pueblo Guanche), aNeopagan movement with several hundred followers, was founded inSan Cristóbal de La Laguna (Tenerife).[58][59]
Guanche, indigenous language of the Canary Islands, is generally thought to have been a Berber language.
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| Museums and galleries |
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| Musical instruments | ||
| Traditions | ||
| Sports | ||
| Symbols places of the Canary Islands | ||
