Diachrony of violence in the pre-Hispanic society of Gran

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Canaria In recent years, studies undertaken on traces of physical violence in skeletal remains of past populations have experienced a notable increase, revealing how violent interactions have been present throughout history. However, the prevalence, intensity and forms they take vary significantly from one society to another, as well as over time. Such reality is a reflection of the very different roles and meanings that at each time and place have been conferred on the use of violence, as a socially and culturally mediated behavior. September 20, 2023 | Teresa Delgado Darias (The Canary Museum), Verónica Alberto Barroso (Tibicena. Archeology and Heritage), Javier Velasco Vázquez (Historical Heritage Service, Cabildo de Gran Canaria) Share on Facebook Share on X (Twitter) Share on WhatsApp Share on Pinterest Share on Email pre-Hispanic violence Skull of an adult man with scarred depressed trauma in the left frontal region. Guayadeque Ravine (Gran Canaria).

Photography: The Canary Museum . The pre-Hispanic society of Gran Canaria is of special interest to undertake a study of this nature. The island, with an area of ​​about 1560 km 2 , is part of the Canary archipelago, located in the mid-Atlantic Ocean, at a minimum distance of 100 km from the northwest coast of Africa. According to archaeological evidence, the first stable BTC Users Number Data settlement occurred around the 2nd and 3rd centuries of the era, by human groups of Amazigh culture and agropastoral economy, who migrated from North Africa (Velasco et al., 2019). These people would lead particular historical developments on each island, to which the relative isolation in which they lived contributed. However, some territories, such as Gran Canaria, recorded specific episodes of the contribution of a new North African population, thus revealing various archaeological manifestations (Alberto et al., 2022). Finally, the late medieval European discovery of the archipelago would end up leading to a bloody process of conquest in the 15th century, through which it would be incorporated into the crown of Castile.



Physical violence within the aboriginal population of Gran Canaria is being addressed by analyzing issues such as the forms and frequency of these interactions, the demographic profile of the affected population (women, men, age groups...) and, most especially, the way in which such manifestations developed over time. This last perspective will allow violent behavior to be studied within the framework of the specific social and economic conditions in which it took place. For this reason, obtaining radiocarbon dating of human remains with trauma from aggression constitutes an essential task, which is part of the project “Diachrony of violence in the pre-Hispanic society of Gran Canaria” financed by the Palarq Foundation. Prevalence, forms and diachrony of violence The study covers the cranial remains corresponding to a figure close to a thousand individuals, from archaeological sites representative of the different inhabited areas of the island. To define the mechanisms of the injury, the time at which it occurred in relation to the person's death, as well as distinguish between intentional and accidental injuries, standard criteria in bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology have been adopted.