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The history of the guanches |
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The history of the guanches
The Canary islands were inhabited by an indigenous people called 'guanches'. No one knows for sure where they came from, but most believe they have been berbers from the mountains of Northwest Africa. Many of them were tall, with blond hair and blue eyes, and still today it is possible to find many berbers in the Atlas region that looks like this.
Through studies it seems that there have been up to four different colonisations of the islands, starting in the first millenium BC. The guanches also seems to be of two different racial types; cro-magnoid and mediterranean.
How they came to the islands is another mysterium. When the europeans arrived in the Canary islands in the 13th century it seemed like the guanches had very little knowledge of seafaring techniques. Which is a bit strange, concidering they lived on small islands with many nearby islands in sight. The people on the islands had little contact with eachother and had even developed different distinct dialects.
One possibility for the lack of their seafaring experience is that the ocean around the Canary islands is very difficult to navigate due to the strong currents and the tradewinds. Another possiblity is that they were simple shepherds who had been left and forgotten at the islands by a sailing people.
The guanches brought with them goats, sheep, pigs, dogs, wheat and barley to the islands. When the europeans came in the 13th century the culture of the guanches was stone-age-like and based on shepherding, fruit gathering and a very limited agriculture. They lived in caves and their religion was centered around stone pyramids. There are also some rock formations around the islands that had religious meaning to the guanches, like Roque Idafe in the Caldera de Taburiente on La Palma.
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