Who were the Guanches?

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http://www.atlan.org/articles/guanches/

THE MYSTERIOUS ORIGIN OF THE GUANCHES



Into the West, unknown to man,
Ships have sailed since the world began,
Follow the ships through the wind-blown wrack,
Follow the ships that come not back...
R. E. Howard, The Sword of Conan



Introduction
The present article should be read in conection with the one entitled "Guanche Language Derived From Dravida?", which also figures in the present Homepage. Both are an abridged version of a far vaster work of ours on the Guanche problem.

The Guanches are the mysterious natives of the Canary Islands. They were just about exterminated by the Spaniards when these invaded the archipelago at the turn of the 15th century. Tall, blond and blue-eyed, the Guanches have long intrigued the anthropologists, for blond natives are rarity. According to the reliable Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Guanches "are thought to have been of Cro-Magnon origin... and had a brown complexion, blue or gray eyes, and blondish hair" (See Fig. 1).

Indeed, the Guanches are deemed to be related to the Berbers of neighboring Morroco, who are, likewise, tall, blond and blue-eyed when unmixed with the Arab majority. Other specialists, however, believe that the Guanches are related to the Celts of Western Europe, the early realm of these races. No matter what, the Guanches represent a unique opportunity of studying the early peoples of this region so intimately connected with Atlantis and the Garden of the Hesperides.

Isolated in their islands, the Guanches were prevented, until the advent of the Spanish, from sexually mingling with other races. So, they preserved their pristine Cro-Magnon genetic traits in a more or less pure fashion until that date. But, as we said, the Guanches were massacred by the Spaniards, and their remainder mingled heavily with the invaders, so that they essentially inexist today. But the blond, blue-eyed, tall stock has been preserved in part, and can still be seen in many individuals. As is known, blond traits are dominated by dark ones, and tend to disappear from the population. But they survive unseen, and may return in certain individuals called "recessives", who combine the proper genes.

Furthermore, the Guanches mummified their dead, and this material can be studied by the researchers, particularly concerning traits such as blood type and racial characteristics. This strange mode of disposing of the dead — which the Guanches shared with the Polynesians, the Egyptians and the Mayas — has been mooted out by several authorities as indicating a close affinity among these distant nations. The Guanches also left some sort of alphabetic inscriptions which have yet to be studied, along with their pottery and peculiar ruins. All in all, the archaeology of this most remarkable people is far from satisfactorily researched.

Many researchers have pointed out the resemblance of the Guanche natives with the Cro-Magnons and, particularly, with Cro-Magnoid types of regions such as those of Muges (Portugal) dating from the Mesolithic (c. 8,000 BC). Similar groups have been noted and studied Portugal, Spain, France, England, Sweden and Northwest Africa, precisely the realm of the Celto-Germanic and the Berber races.

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http://www.rareplants.de/islas_canar...s_guanches.htm

Society
Although Guanche society was patriarchal, the role of women was very important. On several islands, inheritance rights had been passed down from the mother and women were responsible for the transfer of royal power. Such was the case on Gran Canaria where Queen Atidamana is still remembered. Similarly, when finally Gran Canaria surrendered to the Castillian troops, they did so bringing out a young girl, the daughter of the last Guanarteme (King of the island), to present her with the highest honors to their new overlords. She represented the power and legitimacy of the people’s sovereignty. In other instances, the women were so fierce during combat, or in encouraging and helping their men in combat that the conquistadors spoke of the "the amazons" of the island of La Palma. Or they told legendary tales of Guacimara, royal princess of Anaga (Tenerife) who took part in the struggle against those who tried to land on the beaches of Añaza. Women also played an important role in stories mixed with legend which tell of the heroism displayed by princesses and aristocrats who preferred to throw themselves from the cliffs rather than be taken captive by the Europeans. This ritual suicide, symbol of love for freedom, was practiced not only by women, but also by some men of the royal families, and was preceded by the cry Vacaguaré! (I want to die!). Women in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, however, seem to have played a more submissive role, where they were given as a sign of hospitality to guests to accompany them to bed. Nor did women have an easy time in times of scarcity or overpopulation. When the population reached greater numbers that what was felt the land could sustain, female infanticide was practiced on the islands of La Palma and Gran Canaria. They killed all new born female babies unless it was the first born of the family. In this case, the child was respected as the perpetuator of the family line.

Dwellings
Usually a village consisted of series of caves in the surrounding slopes. The volcanic lands of Tenerife are rich in caves and tunnels formed by the lava. As a result, only rarely buildings had been found. When the absence of caves required it, small structures were built of stones with no mortar and then covered with a roof of branches and leaves. In contrast, the art of building was more advanced on the island of Gran Canaria. Dwellings were dug in areas of granular volcanic soil, and it is said that the walls of the homes of the Guanartemes (kings) were covered with wooden planks. The walls of houses and caves were also often painted with geometric designs on this island. The cave dwellings of Tenerife usually had part of their opening covered over with a wall of stone, leaving only enough room to go in and out. Most of the time, life took place in the open air.

Every Day Life
Women formed gánigos (vessels) of various sizes and shapes: round, oval, with or without handles. A few had been decorated with a pointed stick in rough geometric, linear designs or with solar symbols. It was their work as well to gather wild fruits and plants such as pinion nuts, ferns or toya and mocán (the fruit from one of the trees which make up the laurisilva); or they worked at harvesting the tano or taro (barley), irichen (wheat), hacichey (peas) and broadbeans. Preparing the soil for planting had been the work for the men who used plows made from goats horns to perform the task. Sowing the crop had been left to the women as a sign of fertility. Men were also responsible for fashioning tools and weapons: awls, cutting stones, grind stones and mills, etc. Some men played the role as shepherds guarding large herds of ara and haña on the mountain slopes. These were special breeds of small goats and sheep with straight wool. They grazed on armenine, or pasture land. Some caddle are called guanil or loose livestock which grazed freely. Although the livestock was not marked, the shepherds knew each and every one of their animals. This skill in the Guanche shepherds was a source of constant amazement to the European settlers. The shepherds tanned and cured the hides of goats and sheep with stone and bone tools, and sew them using tendons or thin strips of leather for thread and bone needles. The tabona was a highly prized tool, sort of sharp cutting knife made from shards of obsidian (volcanic glass). The shepherds milked the goats and sheep and fed the pigs in their goros (corrals).
The Guanche diet was based on their livestock. Meat was not an everyday food, especially in the lower classes. But on holidays and at feast time, sheep, goat and even dog meat were a delicacy within reach of everyone. One very savory dish was tamazanona or barley cooked with meat and lard. Milk (ahof) was a staple food, as was the nowadays famous Canarian gofio, or flour ground from roasted grain. Barley gofio was called ahoren. Lard (amulán) and cheese were also daily foods. Fruits and roots wereoften found in the diet and babies were given, in addition to mothers milk, a sort of pudding made of fern roots dipped in lard called aguaman.

Ceremonies, Rituals and Beliefs
On top of the society stood the Mencey. Under him were the achimencey (nobles), who justified their status through their family ties with the royalty. The cichiciquitzos formed an intermediary social level, and at the bottom of society were the achicaxna, or plebe. All the land and livestock belonged to the Mencey who distributed them every year among the upper classes according to the merits and needs of each family group. The Mencey, therefore, fulfilled the important economic role of redistributing the wealth, given that he covered the costs of the public festivities and ceremonies for which the food came from the royal stores.
Tenerife does not appear to have had a priestly class as this function was performed by the Mencey (for the public ceremonies of the Guañac or State). However, the figure of the Guañameñe existed, which was a kind of prophet or soothsayer who command great respect and veneration. In the Tagoror or Council the important decisions affecting the Menceyato were made. These meetings were hold in a special place where the stone seats were arranged in a circle. In many parts of the island of Tenerife , the Tagoror is hold near sacred rocks or trees. The dragos (dracaena drago), a tree endemic to Macaronesia which often lives for several centuries and which has a blood red sap with medicinal properties, were often chosen as places with special meaning. The arrival of the Mencey was announced with bucios, conch shell horns. The symbol of royal power was the añepa (anyepa), a scepter of carved wood.
The Guanches believed in the existence of a supreme god, whom they identified as Magec (the Sun), but whom they referred to in many different ways: Achaman (The Heavens), Achuhuran Achahucanac (Great and Sublime God), Achguayaxerax Achoron Achaman (the Sustainer of Heaven and Earth). They also seem to have had a Mother Goddess, Achmayex Achguayaxerax Achoron Achaman (The Mother of the Sustainer of Heaven and Earth), or Achguayaxiraxi (Preserving Principle of Live). This Mother Goddess was rapidly identified with the Virgin Mary of the Christians, even to the point where the conquistadors found a statue of Our Lady of Candelaria - brought to the islands by missionaries - which the Guanches worshipped in a cave in the Menceyato of Güimar.
Likewise, the Guanches also maintained cultic relations with a god of evil, Guayota (identified as the devil by the Christian conquistadors), which lived in Echeyde, the Teide, which means "the Ominous One". Guayota does not appear to have been loved, but rather feared and respected. By night it took on the form of a solitary dog; an encounter with him was very dangerous.
In addition to these major gods, the Guanches practiced a religion based on naturalist polytheism. They left offerings on rocks and in caves and other natural openings. All the islands had sacred places formed of mountains or rocks which held the Earth and the Heavens in equilibrium. In Tenerife, Teide always held the privileged position in this cult. Throughout the surrounding region, which nowadays is the National Park Las Cañadas del Teide, offerings of clay vessels and tools are still discovered as they were when deposited in their nooks and crannies. These rituals were practices on the island to become one with the spirit of the natural forces or to appease them in their anger. The family unit also had very rude figures which served as small idols for family worship. These normally had reference to fertility and the good health of men and animals.

There were four major ceremonies in Guanche society. One was the ceremony of proclaiming a new Mencey. Another was the ritual practiced in times of drought. The other two were cyclical rites which were repeated every achanó or year. These were the festivals celebrating the New Year at the arrival of Spring, and the Great Annual Festival of Beñasmen - the Harvest Festival.