The San Marcial de Rubicón site in Yaiza (Lanzarote) continues to spring surprises after a month of archaeological work under the second phase of the agreement between the Government of the Canary Islands, Yaiza Town Council, the University of La Laguna and the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. With only a few days of the excavation campaign left to run, the multidisciplinary team has already located some ten individuals showing a degree of organisation within the so-called burial zone, confirming that this is a new necropolis.
Among the skeletal remains found, three babies and one infant stand out, raising questions about their origin — whether they are European, majos (the indigenous people of Lanzarote) or of mixed ancestry — since this site was the setting for the first contacts between European culture and the indigenous culture of the Canaries.
To resolve these and other questions, the ten bodies will undergo Carbon-14 testing to obtain an approximate dating, stable isotope studies to determine their diet, and DNA analysis to clarify their origin. Should it be confirmed that the children's bodies have both aboriginal and European ancestry, they would be the first documented people of mixed ancestry in the Canaries.
It is worth recalling that San Marcial de Rubicón, located in Yaiza, is an archaeological site of great scientific and heritage value, since it was here that the process of exploration and conquest of the Canary archipelago began in the 15th century. That undertaking involved the construction of architectural features that have been coming to light in recent years, such as a tower-fortress, a church and wells, just as the chronicle 'Le Canarien' records, as well as other structures and material remains related to the settlement and to the coexistence of the two populations.
Indigenous or Christian necropolis
The directors of the archaeological excavation, María del Cristo González and Esther Chávez, are weighing up several hypotheses about this second cemetery, found in an area they had not initially considered “because the burial ground already documented was around the church; so now we have to check whether this new necropolis is associated with a sacred precinct”, Chávez explained.
As for the burial area itself, several possibilities remain open. On the one hand, if it were a non-Christian cemetery, this space would become an indigenous necropolis, “although a more likely option is that these are Christianised aborigines, because a ritual with those religious characteristics can be observed”, Chávez suggested.
On the other hand, if it were a Christian cemetery, it could be a temporary one that required the construction of a smaller-scale religious building, presumably later replaced by another on the site where the church-cathedral is now believed to have stood.
For Chávez, “the discovery of these new graves is very important because we can now come into contact with the people who lived here in the 15th century”. In fact, one of the bodies was already dated during the previous excavation campaign and yielded a date between the early and mid-15th century, although a further test is still awaited to refine the age obtained.
New European structures
The graves “are significant finds because they provide a great deal of information, but they are just as important as the rammed-earth walls or the pottery or the coins bearing Jean de Béthencourt's counterstamp”, Rodríguez made clear.
Along these lines, the research team has also opened a test pit in an area where a “building with two rooms built using European techniques” has been located: “on the one hand there is a rammed-earth wall and on the other, masonry”, Chávez explained. In this archaeological context “both colonial and indigenous pottery have been recovered, something very common at this site; a kitchen knife and the remains of a hearth have also appeared, so this is a living space”, she said.