Ancient Guanche solar worship and fertility rites in the Canary Islands

Top Image : Reconstruction of a Guanche settlement of Tenerife.

The Canarian laurel forest is a prehistoric forest about 20 million years old, present in many enclaves on the north coast of Tenerife. This wonderful and ancient forest formation treasures great botanical and archaeological jewels from the Canarian ancestors, the Guanches. Very close to the visible Mount Teide, a group of independent researchers have just found what could be considered a great Guanche meeting / worship center, associated with fertility rituals and sun monitoring. The space is made up of two large independent rock formations, in the middle of the pristine Canarian laurel forest. Both stone cliffs, several meters high, stand out as two stony sentinels in the middle of the ancient green sea of vegetation.

Side view of the dog´s head rock. Note carved eye and canine (zoomorphic) profileSide view of the dog´s head rock. Note carved eye and canine (zoomorphic) profile

The Dog’s Rock

The first of them powerfully draws attention to the huge stone monolith at its feet, a cyclopean block shaped like a head, or skull, of an animal (perhaps a dog) that defiantly gazes into the abyss. This first mountain sanctuary has been initially called ‘The dog´s rock’. The stone / head is about 3.5 meters (11.48 feet) long and 1.6 meters (5.25 feet) tall, has a carved eye and presents the typical canine profile, high skull and pointed snout. At the back there is a carved stone cup, a well differentiated concavity.

The stone cups used in ritual ceremonies at the base of the dog´s head complex. These stone cups were used as milk or waters containers to “impregnate” Mother Earth.The stone cups used in ritual ceremonies at the base of the dog´s head complex. These stone cups were used as milk or waters containers to “impregnate” Mother Earth.

The dog in Guanche society was an animal associated with burials since several dog mummified heads have been found together with human mummies in Tenerife´s sepulchral caves. These remains are common especially in mountainous areas. According to archaeologist Luis Diego Cuscoy the dog would be the soul´s guide into the afterlife. A meaningful notion that powerfully connects with ancient Egypt: The infamous god Anubis , equipped with a jackal / dog head, embalmed the bodies and guarded or guided the pharaoh´s soul on the journey to the world of the dead. The dog is a key element in all pastoral society, and was used for meat by some Guanches, surely in times of scarcity and only sporadically. Furthermore, Gran Canaria had the Tibisenas, spectral or demonic dogs, which frightened the ancient Canarians.

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By Gustavo Sánchez Romero

Gustavo Sánchez Romero was born on Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, Canary Islands, in November 1972. He holds a B.Sc. in Biology (minor in Geology) from Western Michigan University, USA, 1994. He also holds a M.Sc. in Museum Science and Cultural Management from la Laguna University, Tenerife, 2014. In March 2020 he completed a 50-hour introductory course on Canarian Archaeology, Universidad de las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands.

Gustavo has been interested in the archaeology of the Canary islands, and specially on Guanche culture, since childhood, after receiving from his parents a series of popular books, and graphic novels, on these topics. Since then he has acquired specialized monographs and classic texts, both in English and Spanish, about the ancestral inhabitants of the Canarian archipelago, the Guanches. These were northern Africa Amazigh clans, mainly from Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania or Libya, that established themselves on the islands since, approximately, one millennia BC.

Driven by this profound interest, he has been exploring many “off the beaten track” archaeological sites on the island (and others), basically photographing and documenting them, specializing, in a way, on the step pyramids that can be found in many corners of the Canaries. Some of his Guanche discoveries, and part of his research, have been published at the Almogaren, the archaeological publication of the Vienna based Institutum Canarium. The IC was founded in 1969, and has acquired considerable renown as an international and interdisciplinary scientific society dealing with the cultural history of the Canary Islands, and the adjacent Mediterranean. Gustavo´s work has been published in the International Journal of Modern Anthropology. He also has a keen interest in animal legends and mythical creatures, and lives in Icod de los Vinos, northern Tenerife.

(Source: ancient-origins.net; March 3, 2021; https://tinyurl.com/baamarxy)
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