The Pyramids of Guimar

Discovery  

Archaeologists and authorities scoffed when a local newspaper published an article claiming to have discovered mysterious step-pyramids on the island of Tenerife. Just more agricultural stone terraces they said, such as are common throughout the Canaries.  
But Thor Heyerdahl thought differently. Dr. Heyerdahl, who has done extensive research on the pyramids of Tucume in Peru, was intrigued by photos of the site, and on visiting the valley of Guimar to see for himself, he was no longer in any doubt. These were neither terraces nor random piles of stone cleared by the Spaniards, as some had tried to explain them away. They were painstakingly built step-pyramids, constructed according to similar principles as those of Mexico, Peru, and ancient Mesopotamia.

The Evidence  

• Far from being piles of unworked rubble, every stone was turned with its flat side out and placed together by stone masons.  

• With slopes of the volcano Mt. Teide at their back and facing the Atlantic, the edifices are precisely aligned according to the sunset on the summer solstice, as are other sacred structures in different parts of the world.  

• Carefully built stairways on the west side of each pyramid lead up to the summit, which is not a pile of stones, but a perfectly flat platform covered with gravel, as though for ceremonial performances and/or sun worship.

• The stones were not weather-worn, rounded boulders, such as farmers had found in the fields, but sharp fragments of lava, and some of the corner stones had been trimmed.  

• Archaeologists from the University of La Laguna were contracted to do test excavations of a ceremonial platform between two of the pyramids. As predicted by Dr. Heyerdahl, they found that rather than being a random pile of stones as they had expected, it was built of blocks, gravel and earth. The skeptics had to admit that this was definitely some kind of ceremonial architecture. Yet some still refused to admit that such impressive structures could have been built by the Guanche, the original inhabitants of Tenerife, and suggested that they might have been constructed by the early Christian conquistadores as a time measuring device to know when to celebrate the Catholic festivities of St. John.

What is the Significance of the Pyramids?

Following Dr. Heyerdahl's express wishes, no theory is forced on the visitors to Guimar. In fact the symbol of the exhibit is a question mark, asking each person to make up his own mind.

Yet certainly, the evidence leads Heyerdahl and others involved in the project to believe that these pyramids may be remains from pre-European voyagers who sailed the Atlantic in ancient times, and may have possibly forged a link with the pre-Columbian civilizations of the Americas.

Among the original inhabitants of the Canaries many were fair-haired and bearded, and probably related to the Berbers who inhabited the coastal areas of North Africa before the Arab conquest. Is it possible that long before the 15th century, people of the same stock as those who settled the Canary Islands also sailed the same route along the Canary Current that Columbus took to the Americas? Columbus' starting off point was the Canaries, where his ships got supplies and water on Gomera, the island next to Tenerife. The Guanches on Tenerife in 1492 did not permit Columbus or any other Europeans to land on their island. They were not impressed by the physical appearance of the bearded Europeans, who looked like the Guanches themselves. But when Columbus and the Europeans who followed in his wake landed in the New World they were welcomed and initially worshipped as gods, since the beardless Indians they encountered believed that the Spanish belonged to the same people as the legendary founders of their civilization, bearded men from across the Atlantic Ocean.

The priority is to preserve the pyramids, which were slated for destruction to make way for urban development. Two of the smaller pyramids, which were partially damaged in recent decades, have also been restored.

A historic building at the site has been restored to house a museum. The exhibits will present the evidence and arguments for ideas about the spread of culture and ideas in ancient times, including examples of cultural parallels in art and other archaeological materials from across the oceans, models of ancient watercraft, and illustrations of stepped pyramids from around the world.

EXCAVATIONS AT PIRAMIDES DE GUIMAR, TENERIFE, CANARY ISLANDS

On the proposal of Dr. Thor Heyerdahl, archaeologists from La Laguna University, Tenerife, carried out test excavations at the site in 1991. They confirmed that Guanches had been in the area, as some samples of Guanche materials were found. Since the entrance to the cave was so filled with refuse and had been disturbed in recent times, neither carbon dating nor any form of stratigraphic work was attempted.

In November 1997, Dr. Heyerdahl proposed that excavations should be continued at the site, and they were carried out from November 24-December 5, under the professional leadership of Dr. Donald P. Ryan of Pacific Lutheran University, Washington, USA and Lic. Vicente Valencia Afonso of Tenerife, who is the resident archaeologist and curator at the pyramid site. Several days were lost in merely removing refuse to reach virgin ground level and stratigraphic excavations covering a one-meter square were conducted down to sterile rock.

Immediately inside the cave opening a typical occupation layer showed that the cave had been used for Guanche habitation.

The refuse included: 75 potsherds of Guanche ceramics; 47 flakes of obsidian; four fragments of bone needles; one spheroid of basalt, pecked to perfection, with a diameter of six or seven cm; a large quantity of bones, some identifiable as those of goats; a few molluscs; some fish bones; and one ceramic bead.

Excavations were resumed in March/April 1998. This time the expedition members included: Dr. Thor Heyerdahl, Director; Dr. Donald P. Ryan and Lic. Vicente Valencia Afonso, Field Directors; Prof. Brian Holmes and Katie Rorrer, archaeologists; Mr. Darrell Baker, Dr. Elaine Shen, Mr. Russ Chandler, Mr. Nils Hagelberg, Mr. Enrique Javier Fernandez Perez, Mr. Sergio Pou Hernandez, Mr. Jose Antonio Acosta Navarro and Mr. Carlos Gustavo Gonzalez Diaz, volunteers (the last four are students at the University of La Laguna).

Excavations in the cave provided little additional material and clearance in front of the cave door demonstrated extensive modern disturbance of that area. A series of test pits were made in an area that was speculated to be goat pens associated with the pyramids. The pits revealed that the area has been extensively reused for agriculture up to modern times and thus little if any intact strata from ancient usage was revealed. Although not much was found which might directly address the major questions surrounding the site, the work was necessary in exploring specific areas therein and will help to set the stage for further work which will address the pyramids themselves.  

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