A new necropolis discovered in the first European settlement in the Canary Islands, in Lanzarote

The team of archaeologists working at the San Marcial de Rubicón site in Yaiza, the first European settlement in the islands, has found remains of about ten individuals arranged with some organization within the so-called "burial area", which confirms that a new necropolis has been found.

As reported this Wednesday by the Government of the Canary Islands, among the bone remains found, three babies and a child stand out, raising some questions about their origin, whether they are European, aboriginal (Majo) or mixed, since this enclave is the scene of the first contacts between European culture and the indigenous culture of the Canary Islands.

In order to resolve these doubts, among others, the ten bodies will be subjected to a Carbon 14 test to obtain an approximate dating of their age, stable isotope studies to determine their diet and also a DNA analysis to clarify their origin.

In the event that it is confirmed that the infant bodies have aboriginal and European ancestry, these would be the first documented mixed-race people in the Canary Islands.

The Minister of Universities, Science and Innovation and Culture of the autonomous community, Migdalia Machín; the president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancor; and the mayor of Yaiza, Óscar Noda, have visited the enclave to learn about these latest findings.

The Minister has announced that the desire of the Canarian Government is to "continue with this project, since it is a very important enclave for the history of the islands, so it requires stability and greater resources that will be achieved with the extension of the agreement, which will go from two to four years".

In addition, Machín has announced that "the final intention of this project is the creation of an interpretation center".

In this sense, the general director of Heritage of the autonomous community, Miguel Ángel Clavijo, has assured that "the public institutions involved are already working together to materialize all this knowledge in an archaeological park open to citizens", because the excavations carried out so far have confirmed that it is "an extraordinary site that deserves to be protected and disseminated".

Located in the municipality of Yaiza, in the south of Lanzarote, San Marcial de Rubicón is an archaeological site of high interest, since in that place the process of exploration and conquest of the Canary archipelago began in the 15th century.

"This company involved the construction of architectural elements that have been discovered in recent years such as a tower-fortress, a church, some wells, as indicated by the chronicle 'Le Canarien', as well as other structures and material elements related to the settlement and coexistence between the two populations," highlights the Canarian Government.

The directors of the archaeological excavation, María del Cristo González and Esther Chávez, are considering several hypotheses about this second cemetery found in an area that they did not contemplate a priori, "because the cemetery already documented was around the church".

"Therefore, now it is necessary to verify if this new necropolis is associated with a sacred enclosure," Chávez explained.

Regarding the burial area, several possibilities are left open: on the one hand, if it is a non-Christian cemetery, this space would become an indigenous necropolis; "although another more probable option is that it is Christianized aborigines because a ritual of these religious characteristics is appreciated," Chávez pointed out.

On the other hand, in the case of a Christian cemetery, it could be a provisional cemetery that required the construction of a possible religious enclosure of smaller size and that, presumably, was replaced by another in the place where today it is affirmed that the church-cathedral was located.

For the director of the works, "the discovery of these new tombs is very important because we can now get in touch with the people who lived here in the 15th century".

The tombs "are significant findings because they provide a lot of information but just as important as the rammed earth walls or the ceramics or the coins with the countermark of Jean de Bethencourt (the Norman navigator and soldier who began the lordly conquest of the Canary Islands)," he said.