Pyramids of Güímar
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The Pyramids of Güímar are situated in the village of Güímar on the east coast of the isle of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. They are still a mystery to archaeologists. The term covers six step pyramids with a rectangular ground plan, which have a noticeable similarity to the pyramids built by the Maya and Aztecs in Mexico.
Discarded rocks?
For a long time archaeologists believed that the pyramids were heaps made by native farmers who had found the stones while ploughing and stacked them up on the edges of their fields. This used to be a common practice on the Canary Islands. Reports by the local people and old images say that such pyramids once existed at many locations on the island but were pulled down because of their supposed uselessness and used as a cheap building material. In Güímar itself there had been nine pyramids of which only six are left.Actual pyramids
In 1991 the famous researcher Thor Heyerdahl studied the pyramids and discovered that they cannot be random stone heaps. For example, the stones on the pyramids’ corners show clear marks of treatment, and the ground had been levelled before the pyramids were built. The material is not stones from the nearby fields, but lava rock. Heyerdahl also found that the pyramids had a special astronomical orientation. On the day of the summer solstice you can see a double sunset from the platform of the biggest pyramid – the sun sinks behind a tall mountain peak, passes it, appears again and sets behind the next mountain for a second time. All pyramids have stairs on their western side, on which you can step exactly to the rising sun in the morning of the winter solstice.
Despite his research, Heyerdahl could neither find the age of the pyramids nor answer the question of who built them. However, it is known that Guanches have lived in a cave under one of the pyramids. Until the Spanish conquest in the late 15th century, Güímar was the residence of one of the ten "menceys" (kings) of Tenerife.
It is remarkable that according to a report by Pliny the Elder, the Canaries had been uninhabited in the time of Hanno the Navigator (c. 600 BC) but had contained the ruins of huge buildings.[#endnote_Pliny]
The origin of the Guanches is not quite clear. The passage to the Canary islands from the next mainland coast in southern Morocco is difficult because of the sea currents, while it is easier from Europe and the Mediterranean area.
Heyerdahl advanced a theory according to which the Canaries had been bases of ancient shipping between The Americas and the Mediterranean. The quickest route between the two world regions indeed passes the Canary Islands – it was also used by Christopher Columbus. As early as 1970, Heyerdahl had shown that sailing between Northern Africa and the Caribbean is possible using ancient methods – he had sailed from Morocco to Barbados with the papyrus boat Ra II.
In 1998 the 65.000 m²-large area of the Güímar pyramids was opened to the public as an ethnological park. Heyerdahl was financially supported by the Norwegian shipowner Fred Olsen, who lives on Tenerife. An information centre acquaints visitors with Heyerdahl’s expeditions and his theories about the pyramids. Two pavilions contain exhibitions about Heyerdahl and models of his boats, among other things a reproduction of the Ra II in original size.
Notes
- ↑ Pliny, NH [6:37] ([translation])
External links
- [Official webpage of the Ethnological Park] (Spanish/English/German)
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