Gomera
The Azores, our point of departure for this voyage, has a rich and varied history but no prehistory. That archipelago entered history as a hazard to shipping, marked on a fourteenth century chart. By the end of the following century, it had been accurately charted and settled by the Portuguese, then entering into their golden age as a maritime power. By contrast, when the Spanish landed on the Canary Islands they found the archipelago already inhabited by a people generally known as the Guanche, a prehistoric troglodyte people with a late Neolithic culture. And if you think that the archaeology of the Stone Age could not possibly be controversial, come visit the Canary Islands!
The key to the controversy lies in the location of this archipelago, some 1000 kilometers southwest into the Atlantic from the Iberian Peninsula, at the latitude of southern Morocco. It is from the African continent that the Guanche are thought to have originally migrated. A peaceful, agricultural people they were forced into slavery by the Spanish conquistadors who have controlled the official history of the islands—and its production of bananas—ever since. Any hint that the Guanche might have had contact with, and even professed, Islam has similarly been air-brushed out of history in the spirit of Santiago Matamoros (St James the Slayer of the Moors), the patron saint of the Reconquest. Neither the independentistas nor the integrationists on the archipelago wanted to be tarred with the Moorish brush. By the 1930s, Falangist archaeologists were busy measuring the skulls of the Guanche to confirm their theories of Caucasian racial superiority. By the 1960s, the term "ethnicity" had replaced "race" in literature that had otherwise not undergone fundamental change. With the demise of Franco and his regime, generally disliked on the archipelago, democracy in the Spanish territories was secured by the restored Bourbon monarchy and membership of The European Union. Once again, Canary Island archaeologists were under pressure to provide the archipelago with full European credentials. Today, if you inquire why so many islanders have swarthy complexions you will quickly be informed that they enjoy regular sunbathing!
Membership of the European Union has brought about a remarkable transformation in the economic prosperity of the archipelago. What were peasant households a generation ago, without access to running water, electricity, education or any transport more rapid than a mule now have cars, satellite dishes and, in many cases, internet access. As in all modern economies, there has been a drift to the towns and away from the land. In families that were illiterate a generation ago, children now attend university on the islands. It is to be hoped that before too long a scientific archaeology of the islands will be undertaken so that the prehistory of the archipelago can be presented without the accompaniment of contemporary axe-grinding.
The Azores, our point of departure for this voyage, has a rich and varied history but no prehistory. That archipelago entered history as a hazard to shipping, marked on a fourteenth century chart. By the end of the following century, it had been accurately charted and settled by the Portuguese, then entering into their golden age as a maritime power. By contrast, when the Spanish landed on the Canary Islands they found the archipelago already inhabited by a people generally known as the Guanche, a prehistoric troglodyte people with a late Neolithic culture. And if you think that the archaeology of the Stone Age could not possibly be controversial, come visit the Canary Islands!
The key to the controversy lies in the location of this archipelago, some 1000 kilometers southwest into the Atlantic from the Iberian Peninsula, at the latitude of southern Morocco. It is from the African continent that the Guanche are thought to have originally migrated. A peaceful, agricultural people they were forced into slavery by the Spanish conquistadors who have controlled the official history of the islands—and its production of bananas—ever since. Any hint that the Guanche might have had contact with, and even professed, Islam has similarly been air-brushed out of history in the spirit of Santiago Matamoros (St James the Slayer of the Moors), the patron saint of the Reconquest. Neither the independentistas nor the integrationists on the archipelago wanted to be tarred with the Moorish brush. By the 1930s, Falangist archaeologists were busy measuring the skulls of the Guanche to confirm their theories of Caucasian racial superiority. By the 1960s, the term "ethnicity" had replaced "race" in literature that had otherwise not undergone fundamental change. With the demise of Franco and his regime, generally disliked on the archipelago, democracy in the Spanish territories was secured by the restored Bourbon monarchy and membership of The European Union. Once again, Canary Island archaeologists were under pressure to provide the archipelago with full European credentials. Today, if you inquire why so many islanders have swarthy complexions you will quickly be informed that they enjoy regular sunbathing!
Membership of the European Union has brought about a remarkable transformation in the economic prosperity of the archipelago. What were peasant households a generation ago, without access to running water, electricity, education or any transport more rapid than a mule now have cars, satellite dishes and, in many cases, internet access. As in all modern economies, there has been a drift to the towns and away from the land. In families that were illiterate a generation ago, children now attend university on the islands. It is to be hoped that before too long a scientific archaeology of the islands will be undertaken so that the prehistory of the archipelago can be presented without the accompaniment of contemporary axe-grinding.
