The remains of five human bodies have now been unearthed at the archeological site of San Marcial del Rubicón, near Playa de los Mujeres at Papagayo.
The bodies are of three adults and two children, and initial dating indicates that they lived between the years 1408 and 1445, in the first fifty years following the conquest of the Canary Islands.
San Marcial del Rubicón was the first European settlement to be established on the Canaries, and recent excavations directed by Cristo González, of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and Esther Chávez, of the University of La Laguna in Tenerife, have unearthed fascinating discoveries of living quarters, defensive structures and coins.
One of the women’s bodies was found buried near a vertical stone upon which a cross had been carved.
Lanzarote has yielded far fewer ancient human remains than the western Canary Islands, where mummification was a common practice, and the discoveries offer valuable information into the island’s past.
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