The Intriguing History of the Colonization of the Canary Islands
The history of the colonization of the Canary Islands is a complex puzzle filled with shifting pieces and two primary hypotheses. The first hypothesis proposes that Punic-Phoenician mariners from North Africa reached the archipelago around the 7th to 6th centuries BC, as described in the Periplus of Hannón. It is suggested that these sailors established settlements on the eastern islands to exploit resources such as tuna, mollusks, and marine mammals. Proponents of this theory cite various carbon and sediment dating results that date back to the first millennium BC. However, archaeologists have yet to find definitive evidence of Phoenician presence in the region.
The Roman Migration Theory
Contrastingly, the second dominant theory posits a migration facilitated by the Romans from the Strait of Gibraltar and/or North Africa around the 1st century BC. In his Natural History, the classical writer Pliny the Elder recounts a voyage led by King Juba II of Mauretania to the Fortunatae Insulae. A Roman settlement has been precisely documented on the island of Lobos, located between Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, alongside fragments of amphorae sourced from Southern Hispania and dated between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD.
However, there has long been a debate regarding whether the Romans fully conquered the entire Canary archipelago or merely visited it for economic purposes. A genetic study published last summer revealed that the earliest indigenous people bore a strong genetic resemblance to those who inhabited present-day Morocco around 5,000 years ago in the Neolithic era. Furthermore, recent research has managed to carve out a reliable chronological framework of the initial colonization of the islands, revealing the only known expansion of Berber communities into the Atlantic Ocean.
New Insights into Roman and Berber Presence
Led by Jonathan Santana from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, a recent study published in PNAS has presented a range of intriguing conclusions. For example, it’s been confirmed that the Romans reached the Canary Islands around the 1st century BC. Utilizing a statistical model based on 717 radiocarbon dates from 217 sites throughout the archipelago, researchers uncovered that African Berbers arrived in Lanzarote between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, becoming the foundation for the indigenous communities encountered by Europeans during the late Middle Ages.
Some interpretations of classical sources have indicated that the Romans established a colonial center in the Canaries, sending Berber communities there to exploit coastal resources. Alternatively, some posit that these groups were North African rebels sent to the islands as punishment. New analytical data suggests that Romans and Berbers coexisted in the islands at some point, yet no cultural or genetic exchange occurred between them. According to researchers, this supports the hypothesis that Africans reached the archipelago independently and spread across its territory in a rapid process lasting around 200 years.
Coastal Occupation and Ecological Diversity
The statistical model’s findings offer a clearer picture of human presence in the Canaries. It indicates that the first human occupation was the Roman settlement on Lobos, reliably dated between 315-15 BC. This small islet, where a workshop was established for processing tiny marine snails, possibly represents “the westernmost limit of Roman presence in antiquity.”
However, it wasn’t until the arrival of Berber populations between the 1st and 4th centuries AD that the archipelago experienced permanent occupancy. The success of these migrations—possibly driven by a more extreme and arid climate in their native lands—can be attributed to the islands’ size, ecological diversity, and availability of essential resources for sustaining an agrarian society, such as arable land, freshwater springs, wild plants, and animal resources. The initial African settlers likely arrived in Lanzarote between 70 and 240 AD, much later than previously thought.
In a later timeframe (270-525 AD), the landing in Fuerteventura is suggested to have occurred, contradicting earlier theories positing a landing around the 2nd century AD.
Migration Patterns and Environmental Influences
Based on the prevailing wind and ocean currents in the Canary Islands, researchers hypothesize that colonization began in the northeast. The initial navigators likely set sail from various points on the African coast, including present-day Agadir, Sidi Ifni, or Masa, which are situated north of Tarfaya, the closest area to Fuerteventura. Interestingly, inscriptions in Libyan-Berber alphabet have been discovered on El Hierro, similar to those found in prehistoric sites in North West Africa. This island may have been colonized between 155 and 385 AD, in a timeline that aligns closely with Tenerife, prior to La Gomera (275-405), La Palma (245-430), and Gran Canaria (490-530).
Experts ponder why the settlers ventured to conquer smaller and more western islands without fully utilizing the richer ecological resources of Gran Canaria and Tenerife. They propose the idea of a local autocatlysis sequence, suggesting that the discovery of new lands prompted a keen expectation of finding even more fertile territories. This led to a notable decline in mobility between islands, indicating that the colonization of the archipelago appeared to be “a limited impulse of dispersion, perhaps facilitated by knowledge gained through Roman travelers or prior Berber explorations.”
Cultural Homogeneity and Agricultural Practices
“This rapid colonization process, as described here, better explains the high degree of cultural homogeneity among the island cultures in the early centuries following settlement,” the scientific article asserts. Archaeological, linguistic, and genetic evidence highlights a shared cultural, technological, and biological background among the Canary Berber populations.
The settlers brought with them livestock, including goats, sheep, and pigs, alongside crops such as barley, durum wheat, lentils, peas, broad beans, and figs. Contrary to previous beliefs that early human habitation in the Canaries was predominantly in interior areas, the new research illustrates that the initial occupation was focused on coastal regions. This strategic choice allowed settlers to combine agricultural practices with the utilization of marine resources. Over time, the societies on each island began to diverge due to isolation, environmental limitations, and population declines caused by catastrophic events, as likely occurred in El Hierro between the 7th and 12th centuries.
