The countdown has begun for the next research campaign at the San Marcial de Rubicón archaeological site, being carried out by the Government of the Canary Islands, Yaiza Town Council, the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the University of La Laguna under the first collaboration agreement signed in 2018 to explore this site of great scientific and heritage significance, which bears witness to the first contacts between European and native Canarian culture in the fifteenth century, and which on 18 September will begin its fourth research phase under the current agreement (2022-2024) signed by the participating bodies, a campaign that will run until 20 October this year.
As part of the Los Remedios patron saint festivities, a talk and discussion was scheduled last Monday to publicise the results of the project, with the participation of the archaeologist and former director of Cultural Heritage of the Government of the Canary Islands, Nona Perera, who has followed the research very closely, and the archaeologist from the University of La Laguna, Esther Chávez, who together with María del Cristo González, from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, leads the research. Yaiza's councillors for Heritage and for Festivities, Silvia Santana and Javier Camacho respectively, welcomed the high turnout and public interest in learning about the scope of the initiative.
The meeting, held at the Casa de la Cultura in Yaiza, ran through the various activities that have been carried out, with those attending able to see among the first results the terrestrial geophysics of the site and the marine geophysics of the south coast of Lanzarote between Playa Mujeres and Punta de Papagayo; hydrogeological studies of the Barranco de los Pozos; the digital documentation work on the wells of San Marcial, de la Cruz and de la Pila (laser scanning and 3D photogrammetry) and the structural study of the first two.
The talk closed with the presentation of the results of the excavations carried out so far, showing the living spaces brought to light to date, where the use of rammed earth in their construction has been confirmed, and the remains of the foundations of a defensive enclosure. In addition, the various archaeological materials associated with the levels of use of these spaces were displayed: remains of slag produced by metalworking, abundant animal remains from consumption, fragments of pottery, both of aboriginal and colonial production, and several coins bearing the countermark of a Gothic letter B, evoking the initial of Bethencourt. Finally, the objectives of the next campaign, the fourth, were outlined; it will take place between 18 September and 20 October 2023.