A team of twenty people began the third phase of the archaeological research at the San Marcial de Rubicón site on Tuesday, with the aim of continuing the excavation work of the previous campaign.
In earlier campaigns they not only discovered buried working, dwelling and defensive structures at this enclave of high scientific and heritage value, which shows the first contacts between European and native Canarian culture in the 15th century, but also found materials of both aboriginal and European origin, such as ceramics and the oldest coins ever recovered from an archaeological context in Lanzarote.
This new and far-reaching step will lead to further findings in pursuit of the overriding goal of promoting knowledge and, above all, the conservation and protection of the site, working on the so-called manufacturing area, on the eastern flank of the Barranco de los Pozos, and the residential area, on the western flank. Both were excavated last year with highly productive results.
The archaeological excavation currently under way is directed by María del Cristo González and Esther Chávez, archaeologists from the universities of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and La Laguna respectively, together with Miguel Ángel Hervás, archaeologist at the firm Baraka Arqueólogos. The team also includes technical staff from Baraka, students and graduates from the two Canarian universities, workers from the company Lumar and municipal staff who have been collaborating on the project's fieldwork since it began.